Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany team together with the team from MMUST having lessons during the visit.

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology is set to host staff and students from the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences (THB), Germany for a period of one week. The staff and students will be in MMUST courtesy of the International InterDisciplinary InterActive (Inter³DNA) learning project sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The visitors, who comprise five (5) staff and fourteen (14) students, will stay in MMUST from 27^th February to 4^th March 2023 on an exchange program in the Schools of Agriculture, Engineering, and Public Health. This comes after MMUST’s three (3) staff and six (6) students visited THB in September 2022.

The participating students were drawn from the final and masters classes in the Schools of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Engineering, and Built Environment, as well as Public Health, Biomedical Sciences & Technology. They were trained on various topics touching on ‘Agile Design and Working’, ‘Intercultural Coaching’, and ‘Digital Signal Processing’. The students designed projects which they worked on during the visit and are expected to finalize them during the forthcoming visit by the German counterparts. The MMUST staff, who accompanied the students during the visit included; Dr. Vitalis Ogemah (SAVET), Dr. Jasper Ondulo (SCI), and Dr. Emmanuel Ebinga (SEBE).

MMUST team visited the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

The students will be working towards the completion of the key projects they designed and launched during their visit to THB. These include; Solar Box (for SEBE), Internet of things in Agriculture (for SAVET), and Telemedicine (for SPHBS&T). The solar box project aims at optimizing the utilization of solar energy by designing an efficient and portable solar unit. The IOT in Agriculture focuses on optimizing the operations of the bio-digester for the effective production of biogas and bio-slurry. The telemedicine project aims at providing medical services in remote locations.

Students of Agriculture making a presentation on the ‘Internet of things project.

During their stay at MMUST, the participants are expected to hold a workshop on ‘Modelling and Optimization of complex systems' at the MCU on Tuesday 28^th February 2023. The program will end with a colloquium in which the participating students from both Universities will present the final results of their respective projects.

The collaboration between MMUST and THB started way back in 2017 following the visit to MMUST by Prof. Dietmar Wikarski from THB and Mr. Suleiman Kweyu- the Director of Agro-Kenya, an NGO working with farmers in Kakamega County. The visit led to the signing of a tripartite MOU between the three institutions. This has led to the implementation of several activities such as; visits of scholars from the two institutions to partner Universities, research workshops, and seminars. The partnership has also facilitated the acquisition of equipment to support teaching and learning at MMUST.

By Verna Awuor