Celebrating Innovation on World Engineering Day

Eng. Prof. Odhiambo Marcel Ohanga, the founding Dean in the Faculty of Engineering, delivered a public lecture on Intelligent Agents. He particularly focused on the area of Intelligent Agents (IA) and information retrieval and how this technology is aiding users of databases. The lecture commenced with a discussion of what Intelligent Agents are, and it reviewed the qualities they are generally expected to have and settled on the definition of an intelligent agent as a software entity. IA possesses basic qualities such as autonomy, cooperation, and learning. He went on to critique the current state of IA technology by examining the technological, social, ethical and legal issues. Eng. Prof. Ohanga further examined the implications of this technology and the number of problems and issues surrounding the IA terminology and technology, which must be resolved as soon as possible to acquire the utmost benefit from this technology.

Eng. Prof. Marcel Ohanga is an accomplished academic and researcher in Electrical and Mining Engineering. He holds a BSc in Electronic Engineering from the University of Nairobi, an MSc in Microprocessor Technology and Applications from Brighton Polytechnic, UK, and a PhD in Parallel and Distributed Computer Architectures from the University of Surrey, UK. With a career spanning decades, Eng. Prof. Ohanga has made significant contributions to academia, research, and industry. He has served in various academic and leadership roles at institutions such as the University of South Africa (Unisa), Moi University in Kenya, and Tshwane University of Technology. His research interests include parallel and distributed computing, telecommunications, electronic systems, and intelligent agents.

While opening the meeting, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Henry Mutembei gave his remarks, emphasizing the importance of emerging technologies in driving innovation and research. He congratulated Eng. Prof. Odhiambo Marcel Ohanga for delivering the first internal public lecture and emphasized its importance in fostering academic discourse. Prof. Mutembei encouraged other scholars to follow suit, highlighting the role of such engagements in advancing research and knowledge-sharing within the institution. Aside from the public lecture, students from the Faculty of Engineering participated in an Engineering Walk to commemorate World Engineering Day, which coincided with the event. The walk aimed to celebrate the contributions of engineers to society while fostering a sense of unity and awareness among students. This initiative complemented Eng. Prof. Odhiambo Marcel Ohanga’s lecture by emphasizing both academic excellence and community engagement in engineering.