Mr Boniface Kariuki(Centre) and Mr. Patrick Kiprono,(left) receive the Judges Award at KICC

The students involved in the competition were Mr. Patrick Kiprono, Mr. Alex Ndachi, Mr. Mwaura Moses, Mr. Patrick Chemelil, Mr. Michael Mureithi, Mr. James Kimani, Mr. Fredrick Kipng’etich, Mr. Jacktone Otieno and Mr. Elijah Ngang’a.

Prof G. Nyakoe, Mr. J. Oroko, Mr. B. Kariuki and Mr. J. Mbugua were the members of staff who worked together with the students.

The ROBOKEN competition was part of the Science, Technology and Innovation(ST & I) Week which showcases the role of ST & I in social and economic development of the country. The event comprised of organized keynote and plenary sessions as well as exhibition of inventions and innovations.

A view of the event.

The competition involved design, fabrication and programming of the robot to accomplish set tasks. The robot was based on the final year project by Mr. Kiprono, Mr. Ndachi and Mr. Mwaura.

The JKUAT robot(foremost) battles it out with others in the competition.

Speaking on behalf of the team, Michael Mureithi, a final year student was “thankful for the experience. Our aim is to build on the success of this year’s competition and come next year we endeavor to win the top prize. We appreciate the input and encouragement of the supervisors during the design process and participation in the competition. We also salute the continued support provided by the University in making the project a success.”

The team poses for a photo at KICC. Infront of them is the Award winning robot.

The prize was a PLC module, which is a great addition to the department, which aims at being a center of excellence in automation and robotics training.

The team had earlier received an award from the Vice Chancellor for being the first in the Engineering Category during the 2012 JKUAT Tech Expo.

The Department is proud of this achievement and salutes all who made the robot a success. The Head of Robotics Development Team, Mr. J. Oroko, looks forward to the growth of both the robot design and his team in preparation for the next ROBOKEN Contest.

An employee of Bioplast demontrates an Automatic Interlocking brick making machine to Mr Karanja Kabini (in red)

The factory had been awarded by the third president of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki for its role in job creation in Maai Mahiu. As part of the visit, there were fruitful discussions on the role of SMEs and innovation in industrialization in Kenya.

Mr.Ngugi, CEO of Bioplast Industries Ltd, noted that “Innovation is the key to industrialization and wealth creation. Transfer of the innovation to the common mwananchi should, therefore, be given large priority.” This was said as he commended JKUAT for the high calibre of graduates and challenged the university to have more linkages with the industry.

Mr. Karanja Kabini and Mr. Mumu look on as a Bioplast employee explains an Automatic Charcoal Making Machine.

The Department looks forward to a good working relationships with Bioplast Industries, as well as other SMEs in the counties, in order to better the research and training offered.

This will allow the students to have enough time to carry out the necessary research and therefor come up with projects that are of the required standard.

The Department is pleased to announce the schedule for Industrial visits that will take place during this semester. We hope that all the students will take this as a good opportunity to learn and get to know more about the industrial environment.

Click here to download the May-August 2013 BSc Mechatronics Engineering trips schedule.

• Voice Actuated Wheel-chair
• Studio Camera Control
• GPS based Speed Control
• Development of a 3D Coordinate Measuring Machine
• Automatic Car Park