By Laura Cenge
Uganda Christian University (UCU) Partners United States of America USA chapter has donated computer equipment to the UCU Robotics lab.
The department of Computing and Technology received ePadlink VP9801 ePad-ink Electronic Signature Capture Pad, USB, Siglent Technologies SPD3303X-E Triple Output Power Supply, Falshorge, 3DPrinter Adventurer 3 Pro,Auto Leveling Glass Hot Bed, Built-in HD Camera, 8GB Internal Storage, Touchscreen, Filament Detection,Wi-Fi Cloud,Fully Assembled 150x150x150mm and other equipment.
The equipment will help both the students and the teaching department to go beyond the traditional courses that they have had in the past.
The donation comes in after the department tapped into electronics, mechatronics, and data science in the electronics lab even while it was in its infant stages.
“We started a partnership with UCU Partners, who got interested in what we are doing in the robotics and electronics lab,”said Justine Mukalere, who received the equipment on behalf of the head of the Computing and Technology department.
In addition, she hopes that some of the department’s supporters from the US will be able to visit UCU to see what the department is doing there and discover more ways to support them in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If the partnerships develop, they also want to provide opportunities for the teaching staff at the university to travel to the US so as to exchange experiences and continue to grow and encourage one another in both ways.
Initially,the course was taught as a course unit in the department, but now it has been elevated to a full course that one can pursue at both the bachelor’s and master’s level. This is because the course can be applied to any discipline, be it law, health, agriculture, among others.
Speaking to Terhemba Michael-Ahile, coordinator, Bachelor of Data Science, she said, “There are a lot of projects that talk about conserving energy, food security, remote monitoring of patients, and they are all embedded in data science.”
She also added that from the onset of the programme, they want the students to appreciate the course and see their projects come to life, hence the practical classes that are fixed within the electronics lab.
Furthermore, they hope that more students will enroll in the course, as one of their challenges with the previous class of about 10 students was that they hoped to have about 50 students in the class. They also had a problem with insufficient space and equipment, but they believe that with the donation, their work has been improved and well taken care of.
The department has also secured a partnership with Google so as to have their students acquire certification for their work aside from the transcripts and certificates that they receive from the university.More talks are on with Amazon and Huawei to create partnerships with them to build on the skills acquired.
