The Technical University of Mombasa is among five public universities involved in a program for enhancing computational expertise in the country.
Besides TUM, other local universities involved in the project are the University of Nairobi, Pwani University, Kibabii University and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.
Prof Robert Oboko of the University of Nairobi is spearheading the project dubbed “Towards Enhancing Computational Expertise in Kenya.” It is a collaboration between Northeastern University from Boston, Massachusetts-USA and the Kenyan Universities.
The project is being led overall by Northeastern University through Prof. Jonathan Mwaura. In Kenya, it is led by University of Nairobi through Prof. Robert Oboko.
Prof Oboko paid a courtesy call on TUM Vice Chancellor Prof Laila Abubakar on Wednesday 15th January 2025. Briefing the VC, Prof Oboko said the project started on October 1, 2024 and will end on September 30, 2025.
The UON don further revealed that the main objectives of the project are to enhance computing technical expertise for educators at colleges and Universities; to enhance the technical capacity of graduates and graduating computer science students; and to provide mobility for faculty and students from Kenya and the USA.
“The main aim of the project is to develop computer science education programs to impact young and more mature professionals to create important new avenues for employment and contribution to the economy,“ Prof Oboko added.
In her remarks, Prof Laila said TUM has a well-established Institute of Computing and Informatics (ICI) to nurture students in the digital era. She lauded the project since it will expose Kenyan students to the latest technology.
The program will see three Kenyan faculty members visit Northeastern University between January-March 2025 for 10 days to engage in various technical enhancement activities. In May 2025, four Northeastern University students will visit Kenyan Universities to take part in a summer special topic project-based coursework jointly offered through the project.
In June 2025, five Kenyan students will visit Northeastern University as part of the jointly offered project-based coursework.
“The motivation behind the project was informed by a study,” Prof Oboko said.
“Majority of the Kenyan faculty did not have foundational degrees in computer science and related areas. Therefore, the universities fell short in terms of technical expertise in certain areas of Computer Science,” he added.
He further pointed out Microsoft (Africa Research Institute), IBM and other big tech firms found it difficult to recruit graduates directly due to that challenge. That calls for the training of Kenyan graduates as the only way of raising their chances of securing opportunities in those firms.
In attendance were, the Director Institute of Computing and Informatics (ICI) Dr Fullgence Mwakondo and the Corporate Communications Manager Mr Salim Chiro.
