KENET has awarded a total of USD ($) 60,000 for the innovation grant in the use of Education Technology to four (4) research projects. The call was announced in January 15, 2020 and attracted 26 applicants from 16 Kenyan Universities After a rigorous selection process that lasted three (3) months, four top proposals were selected in the areas of Engineering Education (EE) and Computer Science Education (CSE).

The grant awarded to the four (4) lead researchers from four (4) universities also extends to 11 other researchers who served as team members of the projects. At a cost of Ksh. 1,500,000 (15,000 USD) for each winner, the grant will last a year starting July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

The winners in the two research categories are:

1. Innovations in Engineering Education

“A Student-Driven, Quasi-Flipped Learning Program for Embedded Design and Machine Learning Using the Raspberry-Pi Platform”

Team Lead: Prof. Heywood Ouma, Associate Professor, Electrical and Information Engineering, University of Nairobi (UoN)

Team Members: Mr. Oscar Ondeng (UoN), and Mr. Kinyua Wachira (UoN)

“Teaching Engineering Drawing in an Interactive Multimedia and Augmented Reality Setup”

Team Lead: Dr. Paul Wanyeki, Education Technology, Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT)

Team Members: Mr. Erastus Kabando (DeKUT), Dr. Njenga Mburu (DeKUT), Mr. Michael Kamau (DeKUT) and Eng. Johnson Machira (DeKUT).

2. Innovations in Computer Science Education

“Automated Artificial Language Learning using Complier Reverse Engineering”

Team Lead: Moses Karani, Lecturer, Computer Science, Africa Nazarene University (ANU)

Team Members: James Obuhuma (ANU) and Victoria Mukami (ANU)

“Practical and Projects Based Learning (PPBL) for IoT”

Team Lead: Ronoh Kennedy Kibet, Lecturer, Computer Science, Technical university of Kenya (TUK)

Team Members: Dr. Sam Njuki (TUK), Ms. Elizabet Muli (TUK) and Mr. Edwin Ouma (TUK)

The winners were selected by Computer Science and Engineering Education experts and are expected to publish their work in reputable journals. In addition, they are expected to grow a community of researchers in innovations in the use of education in computer science and engineering education. Through this mini-grant, KENET hopes to not only support individual research teams, but to facilitate institutional collaboration and formation of communities of practice in the research areas of focus, leading to enhanced research capacity in member institutions.

The innovation grant will help to develop new teaching approaches in the engineering degree programs that are approved by the Engineering Board of Kenya and lead to exposure in the development of complex computer systems through improved exposure to software engineering methodology. Led by KENET Research Associate, Dr. Ciira Maina this mini grant promotes early innovation in engineering education and computer science education, as well as strengthening the Special Interest group (SIG) in Engineering and Computer Science/Information Systems (CSIS).

KENET is currently supporting the; Computer Science, Information Systems and Engineering Multi-Disciplinary Mini-Grant (CSIS EE), Computational Modelling and Materials Sciences (CMMS) and Computer Science/Information Systems (CSIS) SIGs which have previously benefited from similar mini grants.