august sep se

The Student Engineer 1

CONTENTS

10.

06.

16.

15.

18.

NewsWiFi for Matatus pg. 4

Emergency number revived pg. 6

Digital TV Signal pg. 6

Tech.BRCK pg. 8

Passenger Lift mechanisms pg. 9

"Sharpened Axe" pg. 12

"Mechanical Whale" pg. 13

The Hyperloop project pg. 14

Why your computer is not safe pg. 16

FeaturesBroadband pg. 18

Electric roads pg. 19

Railway Development pg. 21

UoN Towers pg. 23

Electricity pg. 26

Foreign firms pg. 31

Developing Nairobi County pg. 33

DesignLand Rover Defender pg. 10

First Aid Kit pg. 15

ESACalendar pg. 48

ESA 360 pg. 49

ESA Profiles pg. 50

Social Commentary

pg. 35 - pg. 47

The Student Engineer 32 The Student Engineer

Editor's Note

Copyright © Student Engineer 2013 Reproduction of any article in part or full without permission from The Engineering Students Association is strictly prohibited

The Student Engineer

The Student Engineer

@StudentEng

CHAIRLADY'S MESSAGE

It is with great pleasure that i welcome you all to the August

-September issue of the Student Engineer and thank you

all for picking up a copy. The Student Engineer magazine

has grown a great deal as it continues to provide us with an

opportunity to draw enthusiastic discussions and thought

provoking debates.

First and foremost I would like to welcome the first years and

wish you all success in this illustrious field you have chosen.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the

students, who participated in a peaceful election as they

embarked on choosing new leaders of the ESA executive

committee. I welcome on board the new executive committee

members and the new editorial board and look forward to

working with you closely. I assure you that the team you voted

in is a capable and enthusiastic team dedicated to living up to

their promises.

This year, our core interest is the students and their needs. We

endeavor to bring the corporate world closer through planned

events. On our agenda of activities this year, we have planned an

Annual General Meeting to start us off as we seek to incorporate

you all in the plans of the year, garner ideas on the activities you

would like to see go through and those to be discarded, basically

making ESA more available to the students.

Secondly is the Annual dinner aimed at fostering relationships

between students as well as captains of industry in a fairly less

formal setting. It will provide an opportunity to interact and share

opinions on various successes and challenges of the profession.

It will also give companies the valuable opportunity to interact

with a talented pool of potential recruits.

Acknowledging how important our culture is to us, we plan to

have a cultural week to remind us about our roots and traditions.

We intend to invite a speaker to enlighten us on the importance

of our heritage and keeping our culture alive. This is a week that

will be topped off with a beauty pageant crowning, for the first

time, our very own MR. & MISS Engineering.

For our community Outreach programs this year, we have

planned a number of mentorship sessions to various high

schools, allowing us to share and encourage our younger

brothers and sisters. We also plan to clean and paint central

police in conjunction with BADILIQA.

The Career and Innovation week is a promising concept still in its

initial stages. It has been planned in order to enable corporations

to showcase new ideas and projects that are on the horizon

to students. It is aimed at offering mentorship to academia while

assisting talent acquisition to keep a talent repository from the best

interns for future needs of the company. It is also aimed at giving the

students themselves (especially those in their final year) a chance

to showcase their very own ideas and projects, obtain ideas and

creative criticism from professionals and narrow the gap between

university education and the needs of the job market.

This is just but a fraction of the activities we have planned for

you. We have also provided our proposed year plan calendar with

tentative dates of the events for your viewing.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and

sponsors for all your support and encouragement. Finally I would

like to thank the university fraternity, the office of the Principal,

College of Architecture and Engineering, office of the Dean, School of

Engineering, Our patron and all who have assisted ESA in becoming

what it is today. Without you all our efforts would have been in vain.

We aspire not only to enhance the student growth but also to uphold

the university status and goals. God bless you all and have a fruitful

2013/2014 academic year.

Nancy Ogechi

Five months into a new government and

the energy and general atmosphere in the

country is not only full of optimism, but also

great anticipation to see what the next few years will

be like.

Judging from the recent budget speech, those of us in

the engineering community have lots of reasons to be

excited about the current financial year. This is mainly

because a large chunk of the budgetary allocation

went to infrastructure development in almost all

sectors of the economy.

A few years ago , there were hardly any roads to be

proud of, mobile phones were almost exclusively a

preserve of the wealthy , Internet connections in the

country were at an all time low and the speeds were

just saddening ; all that changed when the previous

government, the private sector and the international

community decided to put in some significant

investments in developing infrastructure on a grand

scale,we are now gladly reaping the benefits of that

investment.

When infrastructure development is mentioned, most

of us automatically assume that we are referring to

roads and ICT infrastructure which are the most

prominent features of development. These form just

a small piece of the pie and in the subsequent issues

we will dive deeper into the theme of infrastructure

development and hopefully expose you to as many

other forms of these developments taking place in

the country.

From the fields of Education to Transport, Health,

Energy and ICT, from Finance and Economics to

Cultural infrastructure ,theres so much more to talk

about and your input will be highly valued.

It is on that note that we would like to thank all

our sponsors, partners, the student body and the

executive committee for all the support you have

directed our way, your advise,input and contributions

have been invaluable and we are looking forward to a

great year ahead of us.

Enjoy your reading.

Editor-in-Chief - Tony Mugita KadieguManaging Editor - Gabriel Etonga

Editors - Nicholas Muchui, Kennedy Kimani, Robert Abuya, Kevin OdongoDesign & Layout - Daniel Wakaba Ndung’u

Photography - Zafran Manji

The Student EngineerP.O Box 30197 - 00100, Nairobi KENYA

Tel: +254 721 399 401

Tony Mugita


Wi-Fi for matatus

///// NEWS

Safaricom LTD and the Matatu Owners

Association recently launched a public

transport initiative which is a game

changer and the first of its kind that offers free

wireless internet to commuters. Dubbed Vuma-

Online, the company aims to install modems on

over 200 PSV's by September 2013.

The Ksh 7 million initiative aimed at expanding

the company's data footprint in the country,

comes as a relief to commuters who spend too

much time in traffic buildups that they have

become accustomed to in the city a little bit

more productive.

The service is accessible through a Wi-Fi router

which PSV's owners can choose to pay for, or

have at no cost after subscribing to the service

for two months.

Pros and Cons.

The service will definitely attract more

customers to wi-fi enabled matatus as opposed

to ordinary ones making most long commutes

less grueling. However, on the flip side the

access to wi-fi in public transport might enable

individuals with sinister motives such as

muggers identify potential targets and either

pickpocket them during commutes or trail them

upon commuting.

Currently there are 300,000 Kenyans using

public transport daily and according to

the CCK Safaricom has command of over

72.6% of all mobile data connections among

telecommunications companies in the country

and mobile data subscriptions account for 99%

of the total internet connections in Kenya as of

December 2012 and this partnership with the

PSV sector is a perfect example of products and

services adapting to consumers lifestyles.

This initiative allows Safaricom to provide other

services such as how traffic is flowing and a

schedule of PSV's and this may potentially lead

to an increase in the uptake of smart-phones in

the country thus commuters will be purchasing

more bundles when their not commuting.

The tourism industry should also take a cue

from the Vuma-Online initiative because if

the ordinary citizens can access WI-fi in public

transport , its only a matter of time before taxi

operators and tour companies follow suit and

adopt this technology.

When tourists are on their safaris, they are

constantly taking photos and videos on their

smart-phones, then they are stuck with all that

information during their safaris because they

cannot simply upload and share this information

with their friends at home while they are on-

the-go.

The initiative can be a crucial tool for Kenya's

tourism sector in getting a competitive

marketing advantage over other destinations

in the region simply because : our tourists will

market Kenya using the content they share on

social media and the videos posted on YouTube,

and they will brand ambassadors the entire time

they are in the country because we can keep

them connected the whole time.

For more information visit:

www.safaricom.co.ke

- Cost of a router

- Cost of an Internet bundle

- The number of 3G phones

on the Safaricom network

- being smart-phones

- Percentage of mobile data

connections in the country

among telecommunication

companies Safaricom has

command over.

- number of kenyans using

public transport daily.

- The total internet

connections in the country

accounted for by mobile

internet subscriptions.

Ksh 6000

Ksh 2000

Ksh 2.3 M

1.2 Million

300,000

99%

72.6%

STATS:


///// NEWS

Start a project

As engineering students, our minds are just a

hub of amazing ideas. But few of us go through

with these ideas. I'm sure some of us have been

able to conceive ideas that would be the 'next

big thing' but instead of seeing them to fruition

we let them dwindle and die. There are many

resources within the University of Nairobi that

can assist you with a project that you may want

to begin, FabLab Nairobi is one of them. We are

future engineers, therefore, innovate, design

and fabricate!

Apply for a competition or conference

These may either be local or international.

There are numerous competitions which are

aimed at students and some even give cash

rewards. Such opportunities can be found

on-line. The application process is quite

simple especially for conferences and if they

require travel, most are all-expense-paid trips.

Therefore, don't be afraid to try. I must admit

that you will get plenty of no's before you get

a single 'yes'. Such is not for the faint at heart.

It takes a lot of perseverance but if successful,

what you will be able to reap out of it will be

priceless in terms of experience.

Volunteer

During the weekends, most of us have some

free time on our hands. This time could be

spent volunteering somewhere. This doesn't

apply only to children's homes but there

are numerous places which are looking for

volunteers. Get on-line and begin the search.

Take a Course

Other than your eventual degree in engineering,

what other qualifications

d o y o u h a v e? T h i s

particular option may

not be for everyone. To

take a particular course

you should have a well

defined reason for taking

it as it should aid in you

in your future. Courses

inc lude, comput ing ,

language, design or any

other course that you

may be interested in whether or not it is within

your field.

Hobbies

When it comes to hobbies, most of our CVs

are filled with the same thing: reading, playing

sports, etc. But how seriously do you take

your hobbies? Just because we are engineers,

it doesn't mean that we can't be interested in

something outside our field. And that is where

most of us go wrong. Everything about us is

technical. Why not try not something different

like, photography, blogging, clothes designing,

etc.

Such diversity is what most employers

and graduate school scholarship applications

look for. Find your niche and run with it. Now

is the best time to be involved with any of

the above. All of us will be future engineers

but what makes you stand out from the rest?

How much electricity does the human bra in produce?

The human brain requires around 20 Joules per second to operate, this is enough to power a 20 watt light-bulb.

The generation of electricity in the brain results from the movement of ions (charged atoms) through the brain.

What’s your Niche?

Kenya’s Digital TvAnalogue switch-off date set for December 2013

999Most of us believe that the key to

success is just by getting good

grades. Well, think again. The key to

success after graduation isn't a question of how

smart you are but more of how diverse you are.

Yes, you may be topping the class and

you may even receive first- class honors but

you may be surprised that in future, your

boss may be that person we all know who

constantly sat at the back of the class and

never received a 'pass' in his/her five (or more)

years of studying engineering. But why is that?

Life in school isn't all about getting good

grades. But don't get me wrong, if you're able to

get those A's, then do so! But don't forget about

those other aspects that may not only bulk up

your CV but also teach you skills that you may

never receive in a classroom, for example:

• Presentation skills

• Academic writing and other formal

writing

• Team work

• Leadership skills

• Social skills

Here are some activities that you may consider

if you would want to better yourself:

Join a Club

Going through the University Handbook that I

was given when I joined 1st year, I noticed that

the school has at least 150 registered students'

associations and clubs. These clubs include

academic, sports and youth clubs. Go through

each of them and join maybe one or two.

CCK, Kenya Telephone Service providers and The National

Police Service had recently been given until July 31 2013

to work on reviving the toll-free emergency number 999, this

number surprisingly has not been in use for more than 20 years.

The issue came up after the high court judge David

Majanja gave an order to the CCK, Police, Yu, Safaricom,

Airtel and Orange-Telkom Kenya on the re-introduction

of the toll free emergency line; the order was given

in a case in which activist Okiyah Omtatah had sued

the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police

and the Communicat ions Commiss ion of Kenya.

T h e l a c k o f a n e m e rg e n c y re s p o n s e l i n e h a d

signif icantly undermined the country's abil i ty to

respond to and handle disasters and is set to help

the police fight crime in the country in a major way.

22 lines have been allocated in Nairobi for a start, with

residents being encouraged to call for help only. Some

residents have been calling to ask irrelevant questions like

where can they eat or even get a lodging. Residents are

encouraged to respect the lines and call when necessary.

emergency number revived

The government program has se t

December 13 as the switch-off date

for the Nairobi region while the other parts

of the country will follow gradually as it

seeks to meet the global deadline of 2015.

The ICT ministry through the Principal

Secretary Joseph Tiampati recently stated

that only 500,000 households in Nairobi

out of an estimated 1,000,000 owning

televisions sets have acquired the gadgets,

commonly called set top boxes,these gadgets

convert analogue signals to digital form.

Digital tv encourages more local content

generation, and the switch is expected to

expand opportunities for investors in digital

terrestrial TV, broadcast mobile TV and

commercial wireless broadband services.

C o n s u m e r s a r e a l s o e x p e c t e d t o

benef i t f rom c learer p ic ture qua l i t y.

The switch-off dates for Mombasa, Malindi, Nyeri,

Meru, Kisumu, Webuye, Kisii, Nakuru and Eldoret

are set for March 2014, the remaining parts of

the country have until June 30, 2014 to comply.

The Consumer Federation of Kenya last

year successful ly

c h a l l e n g e d t h e

g o v e r n m e n t ' s

intention to switch

N a i r o b i f r o m

analogue to digital

b r o a d c a s t i n g

b y D e c e m b e r .

However, following

discussions with the

government , the

lobby group withdrew

the cour t case in

exchange for a role

to steer the process.

MENTORSHIP \\\\\

by Marian Muthui


The Internet is increasingly becoming a

large part of our daily lives and even a

few hours in a day without connectivity

can be unbearable and in some cases could

significantly affect your productivity, enter

BRCK.

One of the easiest and most reliable ways to

connect to the Internet anywhere in the world

even when you do not have electricity.

Described as a rugged solution to the Internet

problems in most parts of Africa, BRCK offers a

reliable connection even in the remotest parts

of Kenya as long as you can access a mobile

network signal.

This simple device addresses the need for

reliable Internet connections in unpredictable

environments and was designed for the

changing way we connect to the Internet around

the world where we have multiple devices such

as smart-phones and tablets and we are always

on the move.

BRCK works just like a smart-phone when trying

to find the best connection , it intelligently

switches between an Ethernet connection, Wi-

Fi and 3G connections from your Sim-card so as

to find the fastest and most stable connection

thus providing a failsafe to Internet connectivity

in almost any situation.

Its key features include:

• A battery that can last 8 hours

• Simultaneously supports upto 20

devices.

• Strong Wi-fi that can cover multiple

rooms.

• 8 GPIO's to connect sensors

• Software allowing apps, remote

management and data collection.

BRCK's resilient battery additionally stabilizes

to protect components from burning whenever

electricity surges or goes off.

The infused software allows it to store data

in the cloud with the integration of software

such as Dropbox and it also integrates remote

management via a virtual private network.

The BRCK connects to the BRCK Cloud ,which

is a website you can access from anywhere to

check how network connections and electricity

are performing on your device.

The team responsible for this ground breaking

product includes Juliana Rotich, Eric Hersman,

David Kobia, Reg Orton and Philip Walton;

together they have re-designed technology that

has been around for years and made it work for

their needs in Kenya, and if it can work in Africa

it can work anywhere in the world.

For more information visit:

www.brck.com / www.ushahidi.com

Stats:

1078 - Number of people who've backed

the project on Kickstarter.

USD 172,107 - Amount raised on the

Kickstarter campaign.

USD 47,000 - Amount by which they

surpassed their target of USD 125,000

KSH 16,000 - Projected unit cost for a

single BRCK.

BRCK: The Backup Generator for the Internet

///// TECHNOLOGY

Given an option, no one will ever

choose the backbreaking stairway

to the 19th floor of a building. It

will be awkward to seat behind your desk in

your office on a Monday morning with bits of

sweat on your face, tired from having climbed

all the way from the ground floor by a winding

stairway. Unless otherwise, most people

prefer to take the easiest and fastest means,

which in this case is definitely the elevator.

An elevator is a type of a carriage that can be

used to move either people or loads between

floors in a building. It is mostly categorized

as a vertical transport system. Most of these

vertical lifts are powered by electric motors

that drive traction cables. Other lifts operates

on a thread and screw mechanism. The elevator

mechanism dates back to medieval times. The

first elevator is attributed to Achimedes. The

jacking mechanism that he employed in his

pioneer lift was basically the thread and screw.

The driving mechanism employed evolved

with changing times, from steam driven lifts

to modern microprocessor controlled lifts.

The earliest lifts were directly controlled by an

operator. The operator would manually control

the lift and stop it at the desired floor level.

Just like in any other industry, cost cutting

measures provide the impetus for technological

advancement. To counter the ever increasing

demands of lift operators, microprocessor

controllers were introduced. Nowadays,

almost all lifts are entirely automated. This

represents a significant stride in this industry.

It is now a convention for every building

to be fitted with a lift as a substitute for

ramps. This ensures that the building is

accessible by physically challenged people.

Contemporary elevators have sophisticated

safety mechanisms. A buzzer alarm will ring in

case of overload. In such a scenario, the carriage

will stay put in that very floor until the load is

reduced. However, the traction cables might

snap in such a case. This may be catastrophic.

It is therefore necessary to take extra safety

measures in ensuring that the cables do not

snap. It is due to this that most cables used are

carefully selected and pretension tests done.

In the design of the lifts these cables are given

a high safety factor. This therefore means that

even once the buzzer alarm indicates that the

lift has reached its maximum weight capacity,

it is able to take in extra load without the chain

snapping. It is therefore no coincidence that free

fall accidents are extremely rare.

With all that said, it is never good

to leave anything to chance.

There exists a remote possibility

that the chain could snap. What

if you are caught in this mishap?

Lifts have a locking mechanism.

In case the cable snaps the

carriage car drops at a lower than

free-fall speed. This mechanism

also reduces the speed of the

carriage car until it comes to a

standstill thus avoiding impact

upon reaching the ground. Other

than the locking mechanism,

there is a second layer of protection. Beneath

most lifts, on the bottom most floor, there are

hydraulic dumpers meant to dump the force on

impact experienced during such eventualities.

Most lifts have an outer door and an inner door.

The inner door is meant to prevent passengers

from falling into the shaft of the lift while the

outer door prevents would be passengers from

making an attempt to enter the lift when no

carriage car is available. If the outer door is

faulty, this may result in

serious fatalities. Ever heard

of someone attempting to

enter a lift only to find a

gaping hole? Such situations

arise when the outer door

is defective. It is therefore

important for elevator users

to exercise extra caution when

boarding elevators. What may

seem to be perfect may not

be working perfectly after all.

What if the cable snaps?“ Demistifying the operation of Lifts ”

TECHNOLOGY \\\\\

by Alex Njira

by Wycliffe Musasio


///// DESIGN DESIGN \\\\\

It is this desire that birthed an icon and

fuelled the overland expeditions that

made the Land Rover Defender famous

all over the world.

The Defender has contributed to all our lives

in one way or another, through war and

peacetime; it has helped preserve the rarest

of animals from extinction, crossed deserts to

deliver food to starving populations, explored

inaccessible territories to help map the world,

built telecommunication networks and has

helped bring law and order to some of the most

hostile places in the world.

It has been claimed that the first car seen

by roughly 60% of the developing world's

population is the Land Rover. So it seems that

if the world were to end tomorrow, the only

things that would probably survive besides

Nokia phones and the obvious cockroaches

would be Land Rovers.

Amazingly, after about 5years of production

and an estimated 1.8 million cars down the line,

roughly 70 % of all the land rovers ever built

are still on the go up-to today.

Design History

In the year 1948, the Land Rover Series 1 began

its life with a single purpose, to give Britain a

vehicle that could compete with an American

World War 2 Jeep. At the time, the Jeep had

proven itself in World War 2 and a new civilian

based model was in the works, however, across

the Atlantic the Wilkes brothers were working

on an idea prompted by a fascination

with their jeep which proved to be very

handy in their farm.

Maurice Wilkes knew that the Jeep

would eventually break down and its

parts would be close to impossible to

find in England, the prospect of having

to live without his Jeep gave Wilkes an

Idea, why not build his own.

At the time, the war had devastated the

Rover Car company and raw materials

were being rationed, the Land Rover

designers thus had to substitute Steel for

the body-work using Aluminum because

they were not able to get enough steel. The

cars light-green paint was a hand me down

from the fighter plane builders.

The original land rover was conceived, designed

and built within one year and it was designed to

only be in production for two to three years so

as to bring in some cash flow and export orders

for the Rover Company so that it could restart

its up-market car production.

Initial Applications

The Series 1 was launched with a permanent

four wheel drive and with the capacity to work

as a:

• Car

• Tractor

• Generator

• Welder

• Fire pump

Its bolt-on body and its separate chassis design

are still being used in today's Defender.

Land Rover then had to convince farmers

that their new vehicle could replace the horse

in their farms. The vehicle had an unlimited

capacity for hard work and soon enough there

was more demand for the land rover than they

could fill.

It became the best-friend to quite a lot of

farmers and was the vehicle of choice for the

military across the world.

The Land rover was a ground breaker and

along the way it spawned the Range Rover and

in doing so, it created a whole new class of car,

the SUV short for Sport Utility Vehicle.

The Land Rover was utterly classless and told

the world nothing about your wallet, your

aspirations or even your level of success. It was

said that in a Land Rover you could either work

the land, or you could own the land.

"In a Land Rover you could either work the land or you could own the land."The Spirit of Adventure.

As the popularity of the Land rover grew,

another dimension broadened its demand,

the off-road possibilities of four wheel drive.

The land Rovers capabilities appealed to a

whole new class of automotive

enthusiasts, steadily veering

away from its farmland and

work horse image, owners began

using the vehicle for exploration

and recreational pursuits all over

the world.

The Land Rover became a

passport to adventure for millions

of off road enthusiasts, with its

menacing air of indestructibility.

It encouraged you to go to places

you would never consider under

normal circumstances. On the road,

the Defender would be described as rubbish

compared to SUV's ,but where there was no

road, you would not want to drive anything else

because normal SUV's would not even dare to

go to half the places the Defender has gone to.

Being able to venture off the paved highways

and forge your own path through the world can

be a very exhilarating experience and many

modern SUV's have re-ignited the explorers

spirit but very few have the history of the Land

Rover Defender.

Fast forward to the modern day defender...

Up to today Land Rover still build the defender

as the icon of the brand despite the minor

changes to the car's interior, it still has a bit of

a rustic feel to it. The engine upgrade brings

new levels of refinement and performance to

the Defender and the current design is in many

ways no different from the Series 1 that came

out in 1948.

For now we can rest assured that based on its

sound engineering, its rigid construction and

its iconic no frills design, the Defender will

definitely be around for a long time to come.

LAND ROVER DEFENDER

“Celebrating an Icon”

“ Adventure: That burning desire to explore the unknown, to venture where no human has gone before, to be the first to reach the peak and to cross continents. ”

by Tony Mugita


///// TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY \\\\\

They say when given four hours to cut a tree we

should spend the first three hours sharpening the

axe. Well, that's a wise thought which basically

tells us to plan wisely before doing something which entails

picking the right tools, recruiting the 'perfect' team.What if

you don't have to sharpen the axe anymore?

Introducing the Trimble gatewing x100 which is a realization

of a sharpened axe. The gatewing x100 is an unmanned

aircraft system commonly referred to as drones driven by

its theme of safety and reduced costs which has found its

way in more than 20 applications in the engineering, built

and construction environment.

The x100 is an advanced in geospatial technology mostly

used in mapping and provides data for adjusting photo

stations, measure photogrammetric points, create 3d

clouds, create digital surface models and create digital

orthophotographs by the use of Trimbl e business centre

photogrammetric module. Well for a world of aerial

photography dominated by helicopters and manned

aircrafts the gate wing boosts of the following advantages.

The x100 is the Leading image acquisition quality and data

accuracy due to low flying heights and minimal vibrations

of the instrument. Compared to manned aircrafts its an

all-terrain and all-weather performance features. It has

Reverse thrust for precise landings in confined and remote

places. It is a Durable and a reliable solution for intensive

use.

Applications:

• Quarry and open mine site surveying where its

used to take accurate volume measurements

known as 'toes and crests'.

• In topographic surveying it serves as a perfect total

station,GNSS receiver or scanner where its used to

produce accurate orthophotos of gravel pits.

• In civil engineering especially in road construction it has

been used to come up with digital elevation models with

fast calculation of cut and fill volumes.

Technology is advancing and the competition is much more

with new innovations each and everyday. The trimble x100 is

a realization of products which are cheaper and safer to work

with in the field. Perhaps in Kenya we should focus on using this

technologies as a way of cutting on the government and private

sectors spending on infrastructure.

“Sharpened Axe” “Mechanical Whale”The Trimble X100 Since time immemorial man has longed to

conquer the skies and fly like the birds.

The sight of the eagle gliding among

the clouds sparked everyone's imagination

and various legends such as Daedulus and his

son Icarus were born. The high heavens were

held in high regard and most religions believed

(and still do) that they served as the Creators

throne. After much study, experiment and hard

work, the invasion of this mysterious natural

roof began, thanks to Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Unknown to many people and often

overlooked by historians, man has also always

been awed by the silent depths of the oceans.

To the marine biologist, the ocean was another

unique world filled with interesting flora and

fauna while to the writers it provided a great

background for literary masterpieces such

as the Nautilus. On the other hand, various

world navies saw it as a great camouflage

that would often ensure the element of

surprise . Due to all this, numerous attempts

were made to explore this dark world with

disastrous results, but finally engineers had

a breakthrough and the submarine was born.

A submarine is a vehicle that can be

submerged and navigated under water. It

is usually built for warfare but there are

some that have a variety of peaceful uses,

including tourism, exploration, oil and gas

platform inspections, and pipeline surveys.

Mode of operation

A submarine can be considered to be a

special type of ship because it is capable of

operating on and below the surface of the

sea. For it to float it must weigh less than the

volume of water it displaces and the converse

is true if it is to submerge. To achieve this feat,

a submarine uses its ballast tanks. These tanks

are filled with air when the submarine is on

the surface and when it wants to dive, water

is made to flood the tanks, squeezing air out

and ultimately increasing the density of the

vessel relative to the surrounding seawater.

Furthermore a pair of short wings on its back

(or stern) help in controlling the diving angle.

Appearance

Most submarines are streamlined to

reduce drag and noise. This ends up giving

them their characteristic teardrop shape. On

top of this cigar like hull is a raised tower called

the sail. It houses the periscope, electronics

and the snorkel masts. Military submarines

are covered with sound absorbing anechoic

plating to reduce the chances of detection.

Navigation

Due to its low water penetrating capacity,

light can not be used to navigate the submarine

through the expansive dark ocean. To find their

way in the sea, submarines use marine charts

and a wide array of sophisticated tools which

include:

• The Global navigation System -When the

submarine is cruising on the surface, it

relies on GPS to pinpoint its location with

staggering levels of accuracy.

• The inertial navigation system- when the

submarine is underwater, it tends to use

the autonomous INS. GPS is not used

because water attenuates the signals

considerably or reflects most of it.

In addition to the said two systems, a submarine

uses SONAR to identify other submarines and

water vessels within its vicinity.

Propulsion

Initially, submarines used diesel to power

their engines. This fuel was used to run the

propellers or charge a battery. However, the

sub had to resurface when running the diesel

engine or charging the battery. This proved to

be a great disadvantage for military subs. The

incorporation of an air pipe,(snorkel) reduced

the time the submarine spent at the surface but

was still an Achilles heel for the military sub

since it gave away the position of the vessel to

the enemy. To counter this, the nuclear reactor

was developed. This brought nuclear energy

to the arena and immensely revolutionized

submarine propulsion. In fact a nuclear

powered sub is considered as the only true

submersible vehicle in some quarters because

it can remain submerged for a long period of

time (read years) with the only limit being the

amount of food and supplies on-board and the

crew"s condition.

by Raphael Kimani

by Caleb Juma


"the kit has been designed to be

used with one hand so an injury

to the other hand can be treated

effectively, even if the accident

occurred while you were alone"

As we marvel at our latest achievements

in transport infrastructure we are

reminded of the long way we still

have to go. Indeed even in the more advanced

economies, the quest to save that extra hour

from a journey is still on. Until we come up with

a way to teleport from place to place, there will

always be room for improvement in the way we

travel. The latest proposal in this quest is the

Hyperloop.

Elon Musk is famous for making the

improbable reality: he brought the electric

car to the masses with the Tesla Model S, a

convenient way to pay for stuff on the internet

with Paypal and even commercial space

travel with SpaceX. One would think those

would be enough achievements for a 42 year

old man, but he clearly wants more. Now he

proposes a passenger transport system that

moves at over 1100 kph, cutting the journey

from San Francisco to Los Angeles from the

current two hour flight to just 30 minutes.

First proposed in July 2012, Hyperloop

has a set of incredible claims. It aims to ferry

passengers between the two cities at no fixed

schedule, travel at nearly the speed of sound,

be virtually accident-free all while running on

solar energy and costing a tenth of the cost of a

proposed bullet train. Wow! If this were not Mr.

Musk, the whole idea would have been laughed

off as just another case of wishful thinking.

However, upon closer examination there

are some ideas on just how this system could

work. Some very clever engineers have been

at work trying to guess what building the

mysteriously named Hyperloop could entail. The

first theory put forward was an evacuated tube

with passenger capsules which would be pushed

inside the tube with a blast of pressurized air.

The vacuum would reduce the air resistance

encountered by the capsule allowing it to reach

the required speed. It would however pose

some technological challenges: accelerating

pressurized air is not particularly energy

efficient, not to mention the friction between the

air and the walls of the tube. Also the evacuated

tube would never meet the stringent safety

requirements since the slightest prick in such

a tube would cause the most horrific crashes.

Mr. Musk has promised that Hyperloop cannot

crash and can be self-sufficient in energy.

It thus appears we need to look elsewhere.

Acoustic levitation

What we need is another way of efficiently

reducing air resistance. Recently, a research

group reported it had levitated arbitrarily

shaped objects in acoustic waves. This

technique involves an acoustic phenomenon

called standing waves; essentially waves that

are held in place by interference. If you imbue

these waves with enough power (volume) and

hit just the right frequency, you can levitate

an object. Standing waves, as the name

implies, don't move, but Bjorn Smedman

and Charles Alexander both theorize, if you

pump these waves into a loop (which we

assume the Hyperloop is), and change up the

acoustic parameters slightly, then it might

be possible to carry vehicles on the edge of

these waves as they travel around the loop.

By riding on the peak of a sound wave,

you only really have to deal with drag caused

by air density (linear), which is much less

than drag caused by air velocity (quadratic).

If you pump enough power into the acoustic

wave (i.e. increase the amplitude), the air

density increases but the relative air velocity

drops.In effect, the vehicle in the wave is

stationary, in reference to its surroundings.

In theory, this process is so efficient that

solar panels on top of the loop (a very large

surface area) can power the system. The

acoustic waves, traveling continuously around

the loop, would effectively act as energy storage.

Getting on and off Hyperloop

While acoustic waves neatly solve the

traveling-at-almost-the-speed-of-sound bit,

they don't explain how you would embark and

disembark from the Hyperloop. The best guess

at the moment is that there will be an extra

section at each end of the loop for managing

acceleration and deceleration. To board the

Hyperloop, you will hop into a carriage at the San

Francisco or Los Angeles terminus, and then be

accelerated up to speed using a railgun before

entering the main loop. At the other end, you

will be gently decelerated before disembarking.

This neatly ties in with Musk's comments that

the Hyperloop will be a "cross between a

Concorde and a railgun and an air hockey table."

Finally, we should note that there are other

ways of constructing a Hyperloop. It might turn

out that Musk was just trying to be coy, and that it

will actually be based on some kind of evacuated

tunnel design. Instead of a vacuum, the tunnel

could be flooded with a lighter (less-dense)

gas such as helium, which produces less drag.

Because there's still a pesky force called gravity

to overcome on Earth, he would still need a way

of defeating rolling resistance (friction between

the vehicle and the edges of the tunnel).

Magnetic levitation (maglev), which has been

extensively tested in Japan, might soon be ready

for commercial use and is the obvious solution.

It also isn't clear how any of the above

approaches "can never crash." In theory, if

you poke a hole in a Hyperloop full of acoustic

waves, the waves will very quickly dissipate and

the vehicle will come to a standstill. This will

probably happen very quickly, and probably

quite painfully for the occupants - especially

if you're going around a corner at the time.

ElonMusk

The Hyperloop Project

« Initial sketches of The Hyperloop

///// TECHNOLOGY

This brilliant concept for an at-home

first-aid kit by a product design

student at the Royal college of Arts

in London is a great improvement from the

glorified lunch boxes stuffed with medical

equipment that we pass for first aid kits.

It comes in a compact design that unfolds to

reveal an entire suit of salvos that not only gives

you the tools needed to treat cuts , scrapes

and burns, but also offfers guidance on how

to treat them and the best part about it , the

entire set is designed for use with just one hand.

Unlatch the clean white box and you

will notice distinct compartments dedicated

to burns, scratches and more serious cuts.

The simple design takes all the ambiguity

out of treatment by organizing the contents by

injury thus you do not need to spend time figuring

out how things work, the kit instructs you.

Another big improvement is that the

design takes you through a step by step

treatment of different types of injuries.

Opening the injury specific compartments

presents you with all the necessary tools

needed to address the issue at hand, each

seperated with its own discrete little tab

with instructions spelled out plain english

with clean color coded pictograms created

by graphic designer Nerijus Keblys , offering

at-a-glance direct ions a long the way.

"Standard first aid kits do not address how

they function in real life where they are often

used by someone who has no medical training",

states Gabriele Meldaikyte the designer of the kit.

She notes the lack of communication,

information and clarity in conventional

first aid boxes resulting in the lack of a

system. Her design brings abit of order to

the small amount of chaos that ensues after

an unexpected mishap that results in injury.

One handed use:

I n t h e e v e n t o f a m i s h a p , y o u

become the patient not the doctor thus

Meldaikyte made sure everything in her

kit would be operable by just one hand.

T h i s m e a n t d e s i g n i n g s p e c i a l

t o o l s i n ce r t a i n c a s e s fo r exa m p l e :

Spooled bandage d ispensers that

let you wrap in a hurry and which can

be s l iced shor t wi th a bui l t in b lade

instead of having to resor t to scissors.

She points out that after an injury you

become one handed in a much more literal

sense thus the kit has been designed to be

used with one hand so an injury to the other

hand can be treated effectively, even if the

accident occurred while you were alone.

First Aid Kit re-imaginedDESIGN \\\\\

by Tony Mugita

by Robert Abuya

16 The Student Engineer

///// TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY \\\\\

It is a Sunday afternoon and there is not

much to be done but to keep rolling and

turning in bed. Theclock ticks 3pm, too bad

you've got to get up. Barely awake, you make for

the kitchen for a can of coke then you release

your 'stock' has dried up. Grudgingly,the fridge

door is slammed back. Youlurch back to your

bedroom, look outside your window; nothing

much is taking place apart from the Sunday

sunshine being so lovely.

You are tempted back into your dove t then

you notice your laptop lying hopelessly at

yournightstand.

The laptop is carried to bed,fired up but you

windows OS takes 30 seconds to log in courtesy

of that BOIS or is it BIOS? You opt to visit drive

D for a movie or a TV series, few seconds of

browsing through, you notice that your library

is outdated. Half heartedly,you switch to the

musicfolder, being an avid dance music fan you

play GET LUCK at the background, as you start

up the firefox browser.

Tomorrow being a Monday; you believe it is

professional to check up your e-mails. Apart

from theassignments and deadlines sent to

you by the manager,there is a mail for you

from the one Mr. Peter. You click on it then

notice a pdf(Portable Document Format)

download attached to it. Within the mail, is a

text reading "We are grateful that you did send

your application. kindly go through the pdf for

details".You get hesitant but excited, your palms

get soaky as your heart throttles up. "Which

job application?" is the question ringing in your

head. Finally you decide to click on the pdf

The file does not open up instead,the cursor

wanders aimlessly about your screen ,you try

to get a better hold of your mouse but all is in

vain! Like a scene from a horror movie, daft

punk stops playing,then - I know what you

did last summer - starts to play up. You get

up from bed then place the computer on you

study table. Suddenly, the cursor halts,good

heavens, you decide to move it with your touch

pad but it remains stagnant. Angrily, you decide

to reboot your laptop but there is no response

.In a desperate last attempt, you remove our

PC's battery from the base of the laptop and

wait for about 5 seconds.

Your heart beats up even faster as you connect

back your 6 cell battery while pressing hard

on the power button. The laptop boots then

logs into windows,the curse finally is under

your command. Phew. You now feel like Steven

Frayner 'Dynamo' after performing a levitation

trick. With a sigh,you fall onto your bed on your

back. But what you don't know is that...

That was a trojan attack, the trojan client in

your machine had successfully connected up

to the trojan server and the attacher was in

control of your PC from his machine. Just for

pun,he did turn on your webcam so that he

could get a good look at your distressed face.

He copied your folders and files to his machine

and grabbed your saved passwords . For your

information, he had already mapped out your

geographical location down to your house then

having nothing much to do he played up a

horror movie for you!

Such attacks will be commonplace as Internet

infrastructure keeps growing. The attacks would

take any form and nobody is safe not even the

attacker himself! In the world of computer

freaks, there is a common phrase that goes like

"there are two types of Internet users:those who

know that their machine has been broken into

and those that don't." RTFA should be added to

that saying. Future governments will have their

cyber-security kitty rival the budget allocation

on education because as computer networks

become more complex; more vulnerability

spring up, opening up more breadth and depth

for exploits.

The pioneer Internet developers did not feel

that security should be a priority when sharing

any information over a network .All that was

there for them was the need for connectivity

and more connectivity. Whatever the reason

they may try to bring up , we are all stuck in

murk. I think the Internet would be a secure

playground and less of a battlefield, if the whole

system would the redesigned from scratch, and

security be the core of such a system but who

is up to the task? Keeping in mind that the

greatest weakness of any computer system

is the human user!

WHYSAFE

your Computer isn’t

but... Infrastructure Development

Broadband

Roads

Railway

Electricity

UoN Towers

by Dickens Odhiambo


Human beings have an insatiable

need for information and over

the years people have gone out

of their way to come up with new means of

relaying it. Whereas the information relaying

techniques continue to grow in complexity

consumers are mainly interested in obtaining

information in the simplest possible way. In

order to achieve simplicity it is necessary to

take a plunge into the depths of complexity.

Kenya is no exception and the government

has a clearly defined broadband policy. This is

in cognizance of the fact that most Kenyans do

not have access to basic internet services. This

is not as a result of the unwillingness of the

market to change with the tide but as a result of

the underdevelopment of basic communication

infrastructure especially in rural areas. The

market is always willing to adapt to the best

technologies and nothing bears this out more

than the fact that individuals who felt that

payphones could suit all their communication

needs less than a decade ago now feel that the

mobile phone in its basic form is inadequate.

Broadband simply put refers to a means of

transmitting information of varied bandwidth

characteristics simultaneously over the same

transmission media. This provides for the

robust transmission of voice and data signals

simultaneously. Perhaps the most recent, and

probably the transmission media that is expected

to shake the Kenyan market, is the optical fiber.

A few il lustrations may explain the

emergence of the optical fiber as a favorable

transmission technique. In communication, the

frequency spectrum that is available for use is

a crucial resource. Simply put, the frequency

spectrum is the superhighway over which

the vehicles (information) are carried. Just as

a wide road can support more vehicles, the

optical fiber, which has a greater bandwidth

than other transmission media can be used

to transmit a wider range of information.

As a case in point a single optical fiber can

support well over 90,000 television channels.

The internet has come with a number of

opportunities and challenges alike. Whereas

it has offered enormous revenue generating

opportunities for internet service providers it has

also left those without access to such services

way off the pack. That begs the question whether

more can be done to ensure that everyone

has access to affordable internet services

even when it does not make business sense.

J u s t l i k e e l e c t r i c i t y, b r o a d b a n d

services are a necessity in our times. In

the information age knowledge is power.

These days the next business opportunity

is a click of a button away. Global stories

reverberate instantly over the World Wide Web.

With erratic internet connectivity in most

parts of the country save for major towns,

Kenya has still managed to position itself

as a business process outsourcing hub. This

has opened new opportunities not only for

adventurous job seekers but also for those keen

to add an extra penny in their pockets. At the

moment Kenya is in the same breath with other

trailblazers in the field of business process

outsourcing such as India. It does not take

rocket science to figure out the great strides

the country would take towards this front if

internet connectivity is improved countrywide.

The government's plan seeks to have all

primary and secondary schools connected to

the internet by 2017. Government services such

as licensing and passport issuance will soon be

automated. This would go a long way in sealing

corruption loopholes while at the same time

reducing the time taken in seeking these services.

There is no doubt that there is great

demand for improved internet services in Kenya.

Kenya with well over 2.4 million tweets in 2011

ranked second only to South Africa in Africa

with slightly over 5 million tweets during the

same year. It is worth noting that Nigeria, the

most populous nation in Africa, did slightly over

1.6 million tweets during the

same year several hundred

thousands shy of the tweets

by Kenyans. These figures go

a long way in illustrating the

great demand for internet

services amongst Kenyans

To be fully developed,

the supporting infrastructure

envisioned under Kenya's

national broadband plan is

expected to cost well over

250 billion Kenya shillings.

The government along with

internet service providers

is expected to invest in

developing the necessary

support infrastructure. Once

fully implemented the project

Broadband: A Game Changer or a necessity?

continued on pg. 22....

Science and technology, like all original

creations of the human mind are

unpredictable and dynamic. When it

comes to technology, everything is just almost

possible. The transport field in particular has

experienced rather remarkable achievements

in this regard, from the early animal powered

means to the current automated ones.

Conventional transportation technologies

usually involve the use of fossil fuels for

vehicle propulsion. Rising fuel prices are

causing mainstream awareness and interest

in alternative transportation technology. Many

automobile companies are working hard to

develop more sustainable vehicles in order to

combat fuel costs and the harmful environmental

ef fects of petroleum as a fuel source

Much has happened in the road transport

technology, from electric cars to driverless

cars. Driverless cars are guided by a system of

sensors and cameras and are seen as potentially

safer and more efficient than regular vehicles.

However, there has been an interesting

turn of events. Scientists have star ted

concentrating on the road rather than the

gadget, which is the car. This has led to

the development of electric roads. This is a

relatively new technology spearheaded by a

team of scientists from Volvo. This is a shift

from the Road Powered electrical vehicle.

Road Powered electrical vehicle may be

defined as a transport capsule whose principal

means of locomotion is one or more electric

motors where the electric motors are powered

by an electrical supply provided either from

a battery ,usually on-board, or power source

typically remote, and connected directly via

conductive cables or magnetic inductive fields

A c c o r d i n g t o Vo l v o , t h e f u t u r e

of t ranspor tat ion isn't dependent on

improving this type of electric vehicle

battery technology, but rather electrifying

the actual roads we're already driving on.

The electric road works by having two

power lines built directly into its surface. The

two power lines run along the road's entire

length. One is a positive pole, and the other

is used to return the current. The lines are

sectioned so that live current is only delivered

to a collector mounted at the rear of, or under,

the truck if an appropriate signal is detected

.A vehicle driving over it would need a current

collector that could pick up the charge from

the power lines, fueling the vehicle as it drives.

The Swedish-based automaker has

developed a method of road-to-vehicle electric

power that propels larger vehicles, like semis

and buses, through power lines built into the

road. The vehicle is equipped with a radio

emitter, which the road segments can sense.

When an electric vehicle passes a road segment

with a proper encrypted signal, then the road will

energize the segments that sense the vehicle.

With this method, electric vehicles

could be continuously supplied with power

without carrying large batteries. Currently,

long distances are especially challenging for

vehicles operating only on electric power.

An electric road could allow even long-

distance trucks and buses to operate without

having to stop frequently and recharge.

The power line will be built in sections

and one section is only live as the truck

passes. Also, the power lines present some

safety concerns and would require a vehicle

to be traveling at least 37 miles per hour in

order to take advantage of the electricity

As much as it is interesting to see a fresh

take on electric mobility., the technology

still has a long journey ahead of it and many

an year remain before this is on our roads,

especially in third world countries. Uncertainties

however do exist, such as how the road would

perform in extreme weather conditions.

All in all, the electric road has the potential

to create a sustainable transpor tation

system .For this to happen however, we

must invest significantly in research NOW.

Electric roads

///// FEATURE FEATURE \\\\\

by Gabriel Etonga

by Ken Kimani


Kenya's vision to transform into a

newly industrializing middle income

country providing a high quality

of life to all its citizens by 2030 seems to be

well on course, judging from the recent mega

projects that the government has undertaken.

The infrastructure sector is in the spotlight

as the government ,companies and consumers

grapple with issues such as availability ,

condition, security of supply ,environmental

impact and most of all, affordability. This sector

is on a journey of major changes and I believe it

holds the key to the country's economic growth

as articulated in the country's vision 2030.

Some of the mega projects that the

government has undertaken include ,the

Nairobi¬-Thika highway which is already complete

and recently commissioned by the president

,the massive Ngong wind power project ,the 280

MW Olkaria power plant set for completion in

March next year ,and the Lake Turkana Wind

power project, to mention just but a few.

The Ethiopia Kenya Power interconnection

project is a project that will completely change

the face of the region's electricity transmission

network. This is not a new project since the idea

was conceived in 2006 when Ethiopia and Kenya

signed a memorandum of understanding that

agreed that a power system interconnection

between the systems of Ethiopia and Kenya

be established. However, it is not until this

September that Construction of power lines

between Ethiopia and Kenya is set to begin.

This megaproject set to cost a whopping

$1.2-bil l ion (102-bil l ion shil l ing) and is

financed by several agencies, the African

Development Bank, the World Bank and the

French Development Agency. The power line

will be 1,068-kilometre long and is expected

to be completed in September 2018.It will

provide Kenya with cheaper electricity from

Ethiopia's hydro-electricity dams. This is

because Ethiopia is endowed with a huge

hydro generation potential which is estimated

at approximately 45,000 MW. The Government

of Ethiopia intends to develop these resources

for domestic consumption and export and this

proposed line is to act as a major highway to

the southern countries such as Tanzania. The

enormous potential for electricity trade in the

Eastern Nile countries coupled with its socio-

economic and environmental benefits will

pioneer the idea of a regional power market and

enhance the East African Power Pool (EAPP).

The proposed transmission line right-of-

way (RoW) crosses from Ethiopia into Kenya

approximately 90 km West of Moyale town and

traverses Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo, Laikipia,

Nyandarua and Nakuru. From Moyale the

transmission line route runs adjacent to the Great

North Highway (Marsabit - Moyale) in a southerly

direction avoiding Marsabit National Park. From

Marsabit area the route runs southwards at a

maximum distance of 500 m parallel to the

main Isiolo - Marsabit Highway to Laisamis.

At Laisamis Town the proposed RoW runs

close to the road as it enters Losai game

reserve keeping a range of about 400 m to

800 m off the road reserve then runs further

on to Merille where it diverts slightly westwards

running east of Matthews Range, 6 km east of

the Lololokwe Mountain peak. It then runs

through a stretch of fairly flat land covered

by thorny shrubs and bushes, and then turns

southwards to the Ngoborbit plateaus and

ridges dropping altitude down into Laikipia.

In Laikipia, the proposed RoW continues

through the extreme western section of Mpala

Ranch which is covered by scattered thickets

and bushes. Then it crosses Mutara River

into Ndaragwa. The line runs on top ridge of

Shamata and then sharply drops altitude to

the flat plains of Olobolossat, 3.7 kilometres

eastwards of Lake Ol Bolossat. It then traverses

the Olkalou Settlement Scheme and cuts across

Malewa River, climbing a steep hill then drops

altitude to the flat land of Marangishu (karati)

and on-wards to Kijabe after crossing the

Nakuru - Nairobi highways into plains east of Mt.

Longonot into the proposed Suswa Substation.

When complete, the project will greatly

lower the cost of electricity,which is quite high

at the moment and also improve Kenyans access

to electricity ,which was a low 16% in 2009.

The Eastern Africa Interconnector(Ethiopia - Kenya highway)

Railway Development Plans

Economic and social prosperity of any

country depends greatly on the ease

of mobility of its major factors of

production. The ease the movement should be in

such a manner that the cost is not compromised.

These are the costs that indicate the overall

appropriateness of a country in doing business

and hence inflow of direct foreign investment.

The cost of doing business in Kenya has

not been attractive at all to investors in the

past 20 years. Statistics show that Kenya

is the most costly place to set up business,

yet the returns may not be as high. This has

led to massive capital flight and skipping

of Kenya as an investment destination of

choice in Africa. The government has for

many years believed that it can overshadow

this by offering lucrative tax incentives.

However, a report by the World Bank shows

that investors are more concerned with basic

infrastructure and security, than the traditional

tax holidays, which deny the government in

the excess of KSh 100 billion in tax revenue.

The government plan to impose 1.5% tax

on all imports as the railway development

levy is an absolutely necessary pain. In this

plan, the government intends to raise over

20 billion to supplement the 22 billion already

set aside in the current year budget. Last

year, Kenya imported Sh1.374 trillion worth

of goods from various parts of the world.

With a general average re-export level of 10

per cent, the levy could have fetched Sh18.6

billion if the government applied it last year.

The railway line, which is to be built

according to Chinese railway design standards,

will carry freight trains at speeds of up to 80

kilometers per hour, and passenger trains at

up to 120 kilometers per hour. This will greatly

ease movement for people and cargo from the

port of Mombasa. The railway line will built

from Mombasa to Malaba in Kenya, to Kampala

and end in Kigali Rwanda. This is aimed at

lowering the cost of transporting goods from

the coastal port to Kampala from a massive

KSh 140,000 per container to KSh 30,000.

What's more, since it will be run by a company

that the Kenyan government has control in,

the government will be in a better position to

control inflation through regulation of charges.

Also in the government plan under the

railway development is the Nairobi railway

commuter system. Under this plan, the

government plans to construct 28 new railway

stations in Nairobi and its environs. It will include

new railway lines to replace the depilated ones,

new coaches and world-class ticketing system.

Syokimau and makadara stations are already

complete. The remaining 26 will be completed

in two years, according to Deputy President

William Ruto. When completed, residents of

Nairobi will save a lot on commuter charges.

This will have an overall effect of lowering the

cost of living for the people and hence reduce

pressure on the employers to increase salaries.

In developed countries, over 80% of the

cargo is transported via railway. In addition, the

railway commuter systems in those countries

are well developed, completely eradicating

the small public transport vehicles from major

town centers. In Kenya, less that 20% of the

inland cargo is transported via railway. Last

year, rift valley railways transported 900,000

metric tons of cargo a drop from 1.2 million

in the previous year. This represents only

a fraction of the total cargo transported in

Kenya. Cabinet secretary for transport and

infrastructure Eng. Michael Kamau recently

expressed dissatisfaction with the way rift

valley railways was handling its operations,

as the data shows decline in operations.

Development of a standard gauge railway

line will save the economy billions annually in

road maintenance. Every year, the government

spends a substantial amount in maintaining

major highways that have been destroyed by

heavy trucks. A high speed and efficient railway

transport will reduce the number of trucks by

at least 60% once completed. This will mean

longer life to the major transport corridors.

The savings from this will go a long way in

developing other smaller roads in agricultural

areas so as to ease transport in those areas.

All these capital investment projects do not

require foreign partners in terms of funding for

them to be implemented. In an interview, Eng.

Michael Kamau said that what is required was

funding from commercial banks as the systems

put in place to raise these funds are short and

medium term. These are excellent plans that will

put Kenya ahead in business competitiveness.


by Gilbert Gitongaby Ken Kimani

22 The Student Engineer The Student Engineer 23

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport,

is Kenya's largest aviation facility, and

the busiest airport in East and Central

Africa and it forms the hub of air transport

within the region. It is the sixth-busiest

airport in Africa. The airport is the main hub

of Kenya Airways, JetLink Express and Fly540.

Opened in 1978 by Kenya's founding

father Jomo Kenyatta, the airport was built

to accommodate 2 million passengers. Today,

nearly 7 million passengers are arriving,

departing, and transiting in Nairobi, and

the capacity constraints have cost Kenya

dearly as more airlines than ever before

wish to fly to Nairobi but find themselves

restricted by the lack of suitable slot times,

aircraft parking , enough air bridges, lack

of office space and overcrowded terminals.

The airport is served by a single Runway

and one terminal building constructed in

the 1970s. With the number of passengers

increasing yearly, there is a lot of congestion

thus the government has come up with a

project to construct a second runway. The

second runway project has been repeatedly

delayed under the last government, mainly

due to theatrics and gimmicks by former

transport minister, who kept meddling with

the board of the Kenya Airport Authority. The

former minister got unduly involved in many

aspects of the procurement and contracts.

Due to these delays, Kenya Airways has

developed a proposal to help build the new

Terminal 4 unit at JKIA. The construction

will cost an estimated 10 bill ion Kenya

shillings and adjoining the present semi-

circular terminal building housing units 1,

2, and 3. The terminal will bring temporary

relief to JKIA until the new Greenfield

mega terminal opens in a few years' time.

T h e n e w C a b i n e t S e c r e t a r y f o r

Infrastructure and Transpor t , Michael

Kamau, was swift, however, in clearing the

mess left behind by his predecessor and

got the project back on track after sacking

the former ministers oversight committee

and giving the KAA board and management

the green light to proceed with due haste.

The project is estimated to commence this

year to meet the target of the new Greenfield

Terminal coming on line by the financial

year 2016/17. The cost will be over US$650

million at current prices, and completion,

once ground is finally broken and will take

at least 3 ½ years. The new facilities will

no doubt unleash the full potential of traffic

growth, which by 2020 will see three times

as many passengers compared to this year.

Most important for Kenya's aviation

industry is the expected effect of the airport

expansion for national airline Kenya Airways

which is looking at tripling their fleet by 2021.

Their strategic plan 'Mawingu' talks of 115

destinations by that year, compared to just over

60 now, clearly hinging their own expansion on

the timely completion of the second runway and

new mega terminal, to which Kenya Airways

and partner airlines will move when it is ready.

The new government of President Uhuru

Kenyatta has earmarked tourism and trade

as key components to achieve a double digit

economic growth and aviation has been

recognized as a cornerstone in this equation,

for shipping cargo in and out of Kenya and to

receive more and more visitors from abroad to

generate the projected 3 million arrivals by 2015.

is expected to cut internet costs while at the

same time offering reliable internet services.

The big question is whether such an

investment will have a noticeable impact

in the lives of Kenyans. Access to fast

and reliable internet services will expose

internet users to more information.

If well managed, this information will

sow the seeds needed to transform

Kenya to a knowledge based economy.

Everything must be done to ensure

that this plan remains on track. In order to

ensure that the end users enjoy affordable

broadband services, meaningful partnerships

need to be struck between internet service

providers. A few years ago the mobile

phone epitomized the great bounds that

technology could transcend and low speed

internet services were acceptable. However,

going into the future reliable internet

services will not only be a game changer

for Kenya but will also be a necessity.

....continued from pg. 20

Second runway projectunderway at JKIA

The University of Nairobi is currently

undertaking a major construction

of a 22-storey building at the Main

campus to accommodate increasing academic

activities and administrative services. The

ground breaking ceremony was held at the

construction site at the Main Campus and

presided over by top management led by the

Chancellor DR. Joseph Wanjui. The building

will have 21 floors with learning facilities to

accommodate 3000 students and house the

following facilities: the Vice-Chancellor's Suite,

All the Deputy Vice-Chancellor's Suites, Senate

Boardroom, Council Meeting Room, one lecture

theatres of 500 persons, four lecture theatres

of 300 persons, and several lecture rooms to

cater for a minimum of 60 persons, a floor

for the Graduate School and a floor for the

Graduate School of Business. It will also have

a helipad. The project will be financed mainly

by internally generated funds and donations.

Leading businessman and philanthropist

Manu Chandaria has pledged KSh 125 million.

The University aims to develop a visionary

state-of-the-art tower block leading the way

in ecologically sustainable design in its Main

Campus. It is envisaged that the Tower will not

only provide the much-needed teaching space

but also assert and affirm the position of the

University of Nairobi as the leader of architectural

thought, innovation and champion towards the

provision of environmentally friendly-solutions.

The proposed building will be situated in the

open space between the Gandhi Building and

Education Building, just adjacent to the Norfolk

Fairmont Hotel and Kenya National Theatre.

The University of Nairobi is seeking to

construct an ecologically sustainable building

to house the top university administrators and

several teaching facilities. The building will

be world class particularly in its aesthetics

and its environmental design considerations.

It is expected to meet stringent carbon

foot print criteria achieving close to 100%

carbon neutrality. The new building will

meet the indicated spatial requirements and

demonstrate leadership in the development of

a holistic green environment and must attain

the highest green rating standards globally.

The building will also demonstrate a new

approach to workplace design and create a

model for others to learn world-class acoustic

treatment.

The building will enhance the quality of outdoor

space and the balance between indoor and

outdoor Spaces. The University of Nairobi Towers

is expected to be an inspiring and attractive

showcase of 'green' buildings and once realized,

the final facility should attain signature status

in all aspects of cutting-edge architecture. The

facility will be a place where users shall be

proud to undertake world-class scholarly work,

receive global leaders, scholars, the private

sector, as well as other prominent guests.

In the recent past, leading public universities

have undertaken multi-million infrastructural

projects aimed at easing congestion in the

learning institutions. Kenyatta University

has been on the frontline in this, putting up

state-of-art hostel blocks, lecture rooms,

a world class library and a student Centre

complex that is unrivaled in the region.

Currently, the university is seeking an investor

in its 1billion hostel plan that was advertised

through international tender. The project will

be on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model

where the investor will construct the hostel

and collect rent for 15 to 20 years before

handing the building back to the university.

The University of Nairobi towers, whose

construction is being undertaken by China

Hu Yi, is expected to be the landmark

for academic institutions in the region.

UON TowersThe Chandaria University of Nairobi Towers


by Bonaventure Kabiruby Konji Davis


///// ADVERTORIAL

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Oakar Services Ltd in par tnership with

Intergraph held an event dubbed "Intergraph

Geospatial 2013 World Tour Kenya" at the Sarova

Panafric Hotel on 24th May, 2013. The event

attracted over 80 participants drawn from the

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developments in GIS, Photogrammetry, Remote

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part of the greater plan by Intergraph to visit

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The Chief Guest at the event was Mr. Dean

McCormick, Intergraph's Regional Manager in

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The Managing Director of Oakar Services Ltd,

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emphasizing what is new with the Intergraph

geospatial solutions. The event involved

an overview of ERDAS Imagine and live

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geospatial analysis through streamlined

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the portfolio. The components highlighted

included: ERDAS Imagine, ERDAS Apollo, Leica

Photogrammetry Suite (LPS) and Geomedia.

ERDAS Imagine Suite has three product levels:

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Essentials allows for low-cost entry level image

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data can be combined with imagery and quickly

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complete set of tools for mosaicking, surface

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the capabilities for complex image analysis,

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management, analysis and delivery system

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Integraph Geospatial World Tour, Kenya



Driving into Nairobi at night

one gets dazzled by the night

lights that bring the city to

life. This is one of the benefits

of improvements in energy generation,

distribution and transmission in Kenya yet

behind these magnificent lights one may

get obscured from the grim reality that

well over 50% of Kenyans have no access to

electricity. On the one hand, this is a stark

reminder of the long way Kenya has to go as

far as electricity provision is concerned. On

the other hand, it manifests the opportunities

that may be tapped into to bridge the demand

gap in the Kenyan electricity industry.

It is no overstatement that Kenya is a

regional economic power house. Kenyan

manufacturers produce goods that are exported

to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan,

Tanzania and Ethiopia. However, since the cost

of electricity is one of the major production costs

and Kenyan manufacturers as well as electricity

consumers bear the brunt of exceptionally

high electricity costs, electricity cost reduction

must be a major priority of the government.

A number of government funded as

well as private investor funded energy

generation projects are underway. This is

unarguably one of the benefits of liberalizing

the energy production sector in Kenya.

However, Kenya does not generate sufficient

electricity to meet her energy demand.

By 2030, Kenya will need well over 15,000

MW of power. Under Kenya Vision 2030,

Kenya's electricity demands are meant to be

met by tapping into new energy sources. Key

among this is geothermal power. Towards this

front the Kenya Electricity and Generating

Company (KENGEN) has laid renewed emphasis

on generation of geothermal power. This has

asserted Kenya's position as the epitome

of geothermal energy generation in Africa.

When choosing to generate electricity, a

key consideration in selecting a given source of

energy is the cost of generating a standard unit of

power from the chosen energy source. KENGEN,

the largest power producer in the country, has

hydro, thermal, geothermal and to a lesser

extent wind power plants. KENGEN presently

generates a total of 1237.4 MW of electricity.

Out of this, 811.9 MW of the power produced

which makes up roughly 65% of their total

energy production is from hydro power plants.

Some of their key hydro power plants are Gitaru

Hydro Power Plant, Kamburu Hydro Power

Plant, Kiambere Hydro Power Plant and Turkwell

Hydro Power Plant just to name a few. KENGEN

has a total of 14 hydroelectric power plants.

Geothermal power accounts for about 157

MW which adds up to about 13% of KENGEN's

current total electricity generation capacity.

Olkaria I and Olkaria II Geothermal Power

Plants are fully operational. Olkaria III and

Olkaria IV Power Plants are currently under

construction and once complete are expected

to push the amount of geothermal energy

harnessed by KENGEN to about 280 MW.

Thermal power is power that is generated

from fossil fuels. At current operational

levels, KENGEN, which has a gas and diesel

plant in Kipevu as well as a gas turbine in

Nairobi's South C generates 193.5 MW of

thermal power. This makes up for close

to 16% of its total energy production.

The Ngong Wind Power Plant, the only

one of its kind in the country and also owned

by KENGEN generates 5.45 MW of electricity

which makes up for under 1% of KENGEN's

electricity generation capacity. However,

this power plant offers an insight into how

green energy can be harnessed in Kenya.

Independent power producers generate the

remaining power that makes up the total 1500

MW of electricity currently generated in Kenya.

Several factors have informed the ways in

which electricity is generated in Kenya. Hydro

power plants were initially developed because of

the existence of rivers across which dams could

be easily constructed. However, erratic rainfall

patterns made hydroelectric power generation

unreliable. The droughts of the year 2000 that

led to massive power rationing bear testimony

to this fact. Occasionally, thermal power, which

is more expensive, is used to bridge the supply

gap that results from erratic weather patterns.

It is an open secret that the demand for

electricity in Kenya by far outstrips supply.

Plans to import 400 MW from Ethiopia upon

completion of their Grand Renaissance Dam

project that is expected to generate electricity in

the region of 6,000 MW are complete. The Kenya

Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO)

is already undertaking works that will lead to

the establishment of a 400 KV high voltage

transmission line that will run from Ethiopia

through Moyale to feed Kenya's national grid.

Focus must not be lost on other ongoing

projects. Beneath our crust across the Rift

Valley is an abundant supply of energy

trapped beneath the earth's crust. This

informs the vigor with which projects aimed

at harnessing geothermal power are going

on like never before around the country.

Other than KENGEN, the Geothermal

Development Corporation (GDC), a state

corporation mandated to exploit geothermal

energy resources for the production of electricity

is setting up plants across the Rift Valley.

GDC has identified 17 viable sites for

the generation of geothermal power. One

of their plants in Menengai has approached

completion. The other plants are spread out

from Lake Baringo, Suswa, Naivasha all the

way to Magadi. Adding these sites to those

already up and running under KENGEN as

well as their Olkaria III and Olkaria IV projects

Kenya is bound to experience new electricity

injection from geothermal energy sources.

Geothermal energy has less carbon

emissions as compared to energy from thermal

sources. It is also cheaper than thermal energy

and more reliable than hydroelectric power.

However, in order for it to be fully harnessed the

country needs to produce qualified engineers

and technicians at a rate that is in tandem with

the exploitation of energy from this source.

Although the projects that are currently

ongoing in the power generation sector in Kenya

are a move in the right direction, steps need to

be taken to address the high cost of electricity

in Kenya. It is also important to make more

people, especially those in rural and informal

settlements, enjoy the luxury of walking into

homes that are lit by electricity. Initiatives

taken by the Rural Electrification Authority

(REA) in electrifying rural areas represent a

significant stride. However, we should always

remain alive to the reality that the amount

of electricity generated sets the upper limit

on the amount that can be distributed.

Electricity: Staying on trackby Gabriel Etonga

UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

Vision

A world class university committed to scholarly excellence

Mission

To provide quality university education and training and to embody the aspirations of the Kenyan people and the global com-munity through creation, preservation, integration, transmission, and utilization of knowledge.

FACT FILE

Student Population • 62,000Staff • 5500Research fund • Kshs 3 BAlumni • 146,000Courses • 517International links • Over 400

0 Centre for Biotechnology & Bioinformatics

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0 Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies

0 Institute of Nuclear Science

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0 Institute for Tropical and Infectious Diseases

0 Population Studies Research Institute

0 Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies

0 School of Mathematics

0 School of Computing and Informatics

0 School of Biological Sciences

0 School of Physical Sciences

0 School of the Arts and Design

0 S c h o o l o f t h e B u i l t Environment

0 School of Engineering

0 School of Business

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Contact:P.O Box 30197,00100 - Nairobi | Tel: +254-020-318262 Ext: 263 | Fax; +254-020-245566

email: [email protected]

UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

Faculties, Schools, Institutesand Centres.



Infrastructure as best understood refers

to the basic systems and general services

that are necessary for a country or a given

organizations for usage and consumption.

Infrastructure therefore form the backbone

of any given system or organization that is

looking far beyond the usual success. While

infrastructure can be discussed in a broader

depth, it goes without saying that transport and

mobile telephony remain the must harvested

in order to realize the services accrued from

other sectors in the whole infrastructural set

up. It is on this basis that Kisumu seeks to rise

on its feet after a long period of dormancy.

Kisumu city, the second largest city after

the capital Nairobi, lying along the equator

is located in the western part of the country

and forms a major outlet to Kenya's immediate

trade partners in the trading block - Uganda

and Tanzania. Steadily bathing its sides in the

great waters of L. Victoria, the city opens a

wider market for the products of its habitats

to the East Africa community. The continued

growth and development of this used to

be town lies squarely on the current level

of infrastructural development in the city.

The construction of the Nairobi - Kisumu

highway commissioned by the coalition

government five years ago is at long last coming

to fruition. Boasting the highest population

density in the western block added to being the

administrative headquarter of the then Nyanza

province, the city acts as a ready market for the

produce from its surrounding. The road upon

its completion will therefore aid farmers and

business men alike in delivering there produce

to the factories and to the market in at the right

time. Sugarcane farmers occupying the vast

Kano plains including Awasi, Ahero, MUhoroni,

and chemelil region can now afford a smile due

the construction of proper feeder roads that

would help reduce wastage as a result of tracks

failing to collect their canes due to poor roads.

While devolution has placed the immediate

gains from the development plans of any given

region in the hands of the county government,

the benefits that the whole country's stands to

enjoy from the same cannot be ignored. The

Nairobi - Kisumu highway for example provides a

faster and an alternative way to the neighboring

Museveni land. This means increased trade and

improved ease of flow of goods and utilities

between the two states. This would improve

the ties between the two states even as Kenya

seeks to reap more from the duties charged

on the goods being delivered to Uganda.

The completion of the international airport

in this capital equally, has not only given

Kisumu city a new face but it has also given

the city's residence a reason to claim a sense

of belonging. The Airport or pau ndege as it

is known the Kogony' residence has opened

the city to the outside world. Far from creating

employment to the immediate residence, it

enables the small scale sunflower farmers

around the region to easily ship their produce;

additionally, the constant mammoth of heads

using the city's outlet has widened the market.

The development and growth of hotel industry

can only further serve to show how far the city

has come. Gone are the days that the lake had

to bear the burden of serving as the communal

bathing trough, instead today L. Victoria sits

as great scenery save the hyacinth menace.

Known for its highly charged political

temperatures, the city enjoys a fairly good

security set up that most part of the country is

deprived. This, a motivation for investors only

works to better the city's market. As a result,

there has been emergence and erection of

industries as witnessed by the establishment

of mattress manufacturing company around

Buoye and Kibos sugar factory in Mamboleo.

While provision of quality services still

remain a challenge not only to Kisumu but

also to other major cities , it is the desire to

improve that will make this city a must land-

in choice in time to come . A city formerly

known due to her inhabitants, Kisumu city

can proclaim the city in the name due to

the great strides that it has made. The black

gold in the basket has found a face thanks

to improved and developing infrastructure.

The city in Kisumu can dream again.

The New Kisumu

Since the start of Thika superhighway

construction in 2008, Kenya has

witnessed a high influx of foreign firms

in the building, construction and in energy

sector. Foreign firms have won multi-billion

tenders both from the government and private

sector. Other than the commonly known Thika

highway that was done by three firms, all

foreign, other notable project being undertaken

by foreign firms include the 82.5 billion

geothermal development in the Menengai

crater that will be undertaken by fifteen foreign

firms and one local firm, the LAPSET project,

wind power project in northern Kenya as well

as UoN towers and Hazina Towers by NSSF.

The invasion of the Kenyan construction

industry in particular is of great concern

by the local firms. Local firms have been

unable to compete for tenders with their

Chinese counterparts. Some argue that

policies are needed to protect domestic

f i rms from compet i t ion, whi le others

argue that the forces of f ree market

should be left to decide who wins a tender.

The truth of the matter is that local

firms should be more competitive, not by

being protected by the government but by

restructuring their operations and how they

deliver their services. Free market rules demand

that the best in price and other provisions

should carry the day. Also, competition is the

only justification for progression. Therefore,

local firms should reconsider on how they

approach their tendering process and review

their profit margins that keep them competitive.

The quality of constructions from local

firms was highly questionable in the recent

past. Collapse of buildings under construction

has greatly eroded faith people had on the local

contractors. If the companies have to redeem

themselves and remain top of the game,

quality of work should never be compromised.

They should apply highest standards of

professionalism when undertaking projects

and adhere to standards. In fact, a building

that has been well designed and proper

materials selected cannot come down, unless

under an act of God. This has been made

worse by the infiltration of quarks into the

industry. The provisions of the Engineers Act of

2011 are very clear and spell heavy penalties

to such individuals and their employers.

Whereas there are adequate personnel

in the construction industry, some areas lack

adequate local expertise to undertake some

projects, notably the energy sector. The Kenyan

energy demand has been soaring exponentially,

and government has responded by investing

heavily on geothermal, wind, solar and thermal.

In addition, the government in the process of

developing nuclear energy and its expected to

start producing power from the same by 2022. All

these are areas that very few, if any, local firms

can undertake. Local firms, the government

and the academic institutions should embark

on serious capacity building in these critical and

lucrative areas. In addition, local firms should be

well equipped with technology and machinery

to undertake such projects. This is one critical

requirement that no firm can win a tender

without it. In foreign countries, especially in

china, japan and Europe, engineering firm

invest heavily on technology and capacity

building. This keeps the ahead of the pack,

and in any case, they are in a better position

to provide better services and at a lower price.

It is interesting that very few engineering

companies are listed in the stock exchange.

Cash flow problems have grounded many

firms and very little finances are allocated

to research, capacity building and upgrading

of equipment. This has the overall effect of

relegating Kenyan firms to sub-contracting and

provision of auxiliary services in engineering

projects. to deal with this problems, the

established firms should consider diversifying

their financing options, especially, the long term

sources of financing. Listing on the stock market

will give them enough capital for investment.

The advantage in this option is that it does not

require immediate repayment as in the case of

loans and debentures. The shareholders become

part of the owners of the company, and can be

called upon to inject more cash in periods of

financial turbulence. This will give our local firms

adequate financial muscles that will enable

them compete both locally and internationally.

O n c e l o c a l f i r m s h a v e a t t a i n e d

unquestionable degree of quality in service

delivery and timely completion of major

projects, the government should have a clear

policy on how it awards tenders that have

been bid by both local and international firms.

The government should consider not tying up

projects to the country that funded the project.

The government has been awarding Chinese

firms heavy contracts primarily because their

parent government and banks offer loans to

fund those projects. in future, when the local

firms have fully enhanced their capacity, the

government should make sure that the tendering

process is free from such preferential treatment,

and make playing ground level for everyone.

Foreign firms:A lesson for Kenyan contractors

by Chris Okello by Nicholas Muchui


///// FEATURE IEK \\\\\

Oil and gas has finally become a

reality in Kenya. Since Tullow Oil

announce discovery of substantial

oil deposits in Kenya, the country has turned

into a beehive of activity in exploration for

the commodity. There are clear and positive

indications that the country could soon join the

league of oil producing countries in the world

in less than a decade. In line to these interests,

Upstream Oil &Gas Ltd, a leading consulting

firm in the upstream activities in the oil and

gas sector hosted business leaders in the oil

and gas sector for a consultative forum at

the Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi on 31st July 2013.

The aim of this forum was to introduce ICT

players into the oil sector and expose them

to various opportunities that exist in oil

and gas industry. Upstream activities are

data intensive, including exploration and

actual exploitation. This calls for a need to

incorporate ICT in the upstream activities.

Kenya companies stands to benefit greatly

from the petroleum industry if they align

themselves adequately with the industry.

Issues of capacity building emerged as the

main challenges during the meeting as well

as stiff competition from the established

multinational players. It was however noted that

they can shield off the competition by getting

into partnerships with the global leaders.

Joe Watson Gakuo Chief Executive Officer,

Upstream Oil & Gas Group who was the main

sponsor of the forum noted that the industry

is very capital intensive and millions of dollars

have been pumped into the various projects

across the country. Therefore, the industry

requires highest levels of professionalism

and competence from all players including

the ICT sector. He noted that Kenyans are an

entrepreneurial lot and will throw in cash where

they think they can get back a good return within

reasonable time, and thus the need to think of

how we can participate in this productive sector.

Kenyans are an entrepreneurial lot and will

throw in cash where they think they can

get back a good return within reasonable

time, and thus we need to think of how we

can participate in this productive sector.

Kenyan citizens will benefit from oil and gas

wealth through production-sharing formula

already enshrined in oil and gas production-

sharing agreements (PSAs), which give the

exchequer as much as 50 per cent of oil and

gas production. But it is the other fraction

owned by investors that we are interested in.

PSAs provide for the national oil company to

participate in what they call "carried interest"

(currently up to 10 per cent) in equity when

oil and gas companies start production. The

minister for Energy some time back hinted

to this figure going up to 25 per cent. This

carried interest will require to be funded

when production starts, and this is how

private investors can enter the oil and gas

arena through the National Oil Company by

way of equity participation through an IPO.

It would be no different from how Kenyans

participated in funding power generation and

distribution through KenGen and Kenya Power.

The National Oil Company has its own

allocation of blocks awaiting exploration

and, hopefully, eventual development should

they discover commercial hydrocarbons.

Apart from equity participation through the

National Oil Company, Kenyan entrepreneurs

can go straight into the real business and form

companies that can float shares. In Tanzania,

Swala Oil and Gas (Tanzania) Limited was

floated on Dar Stock Exchange in February

2013 with a 35 per cent local shareholding

and 65 per cent ownership by the Swala

Energy Limited of Australia. The Tanzanian

company is currently selling shares not only to

Tanzanians but also to outsiders. The company

has already been allocated two exploration

blocks in the Pangani and Kilosa basins.

Upstream oil and gas business is all about

sharing and spreading risks and partnerships are

the norm. This is the reason why as soon as the

smaller independent explorers discover oil, they

seek to partner with larger oil companies who

are well capitalized and with wider technology

to enter the next stage of oil and gas production

development. Therefore, at this particular point

in time when Kenya and Uganda are preparing

to get into the next step of development, it is

crucial for Kenya firms to seek partnership with

the foreign firms so as to get a share of the cake.

Upstream oil and gas forum

Kenya Urban Roads Authority

(Kura) the authority charged with

managing urban roads is seeking

Sh10 billion for construction and

repair of damaged roads in estates around

Nairobi. It costs about Sh50 million to construct

one kilometer of a standard road.

Besides the effort to maintain the networks that

exist, the government is currently undertaking

the development of Nairobi Bypass Projects

meant to decongest the city and boost trade.

There are also missing link roads around the

city, which are under construction.

Missing links

A study by Kura and Japan investment

cooperation Agency {JICA} between 2004 and

2006 discovered 16 missing link roads, four

of which are complete, 10 under construction

currently and 2 not yet started.

The missing links include the roads from

Kileleshwa Police Station to Westlands

Roundabout designated as Missing Link 3 and

measuring about 1.7km, from Oloitoktok road to

Kileleshwa police station designated as Missing

Link 6 and 2.85km in length and Missing Link

7 which is between James Gichuru Road and

Ngong Road with a distance of 3.75km. These

missing links are complete.

The missing link roads, identified and prioritized

through Nairobi Urban Transport Master Plan

connect Waiyaki Way at Westlands roundabout,

Lantana Road and Riverside drive to Ngong

Road through Mandera Road.

Missing link 7 joins Gitanga Road at Valley

Arcade and James Gichuru Road, Yaya Centre

and Ngong Road. Part of it includes a 2.85km

stretch connecting Mandera Road to Ole Odume

Road at Mazeras Junction.

These constructions are being implemented

through the flagship project under the Enablers

and Macro Sector of the Kenya Vision 2030 and

will be completed on August 15 2013.

Developing Nairobi County: “Road Infrastructure”

The scope of the project is to construct two

way two lane roads, set segregated cycle

tracks, construct pedestrian walkways, install

street lighting and traffic signals, landscape and

plant trees, fix Portal culverts and storm water

drainage facilities.

A report by KURA indicates that the contractor,

Nippo Corporation of Japan, has undertaken

most of the works on these projects.

Bypasses

The bypass projects are under Kenya National

Highway Authority and will comprise northern

bypass to link Limuru road to Thika Road,

eastern bypass to link Mombasa road to Ruiru in

Kiambu and southern bypass to run from Kikuyu

to Mombasa road via Ngong road & Langata

The 70km-Northern and Eastern bypasses are

almost complete {Eastern 39 and Northern 31},

with construction of the biggest interchange in

the country at the City Cabanas flyover section

having resumed.

The construction of the 17.2 billion shillings

southern bypass is in progress and the work

currently stands above 23 percent. The bypass

covering 28.6 kilometers dual carriageway, is to

be completed in July 2015, and will ease traffic

congestion in Nairobi Central Business District

by up to 40%.

Upgrading of Upper Hill Roads Phase 1

The Constructions of Upper Hill Roads is

currently in progress and it is expected to

be completed by 22nd May, 2014. The roads

measuring 5.4km include; Hospital Road, Elgon

Road, Kilimanjaro Road, Bunyala Road, Mara

Road and Upper Hill Roads and a section of

Ole Sangale. This will be the Phase one of the

expected overhaul of roads infrastructure in the

Upper Hill area.

The contract awarded to m/s Mattan

Contractors Ltd started in 23rd May, 2012 at

the Cost of Kshs.2Billion. The Government under

Development Fund will fund the project.

The Contractor has excavated top soils, filled

several layers of the base and has started

preparing for tarmacking in sections like in

Elgon Road.

The scopes of the works include the construction

of 2 way 2 lane (7 meters each) road with a

median separator, setting cycle tracks and

footpaths, making drainage structures and

installing street lighting

by Kenya Engineer Magazineby Anthony Mate


///// IEK

Upper Hill has experienced unprecedented

construction of high-rise buildings with

banks and other Institutions relocating their

Headquarters there. These efforts to improve

the infrastructure will go immensely improve

the accessibility to this area.

The second phase

This will include the re-construction and

upgrading of Chyulu, Menengai, Mawenzi,

Masaba, Kiambere, section of Ole Sangale,

Karuri Gakure, Missing Links 1,2 and 3, parts of

Hospital, Mara, Upper Hill and Lower Hill Roads

measuring approximately 13km.

Relocation of services, heavy traffic and

unfavorable weather conditions have been a

challenge in the works around upper hill this far.

1st Phase or roads construction in Eastleigh

The company, Northern Construction at the sum

of Kshs. 173million undertakes Eastleigh 2nd

Avenue road construction. The works started

in 28 October 2011.

The scope of the works is strengthening of the

existing bituminous lanes with asphalt concrete

overlay or Cabro blocks on carriageway,

construction of footpaths on either side of the

road, setting up street lighting and storm water

drainage

Cabro blocks are placed in parts of the

carriageway susceptible to sewer spillage

during the rainy season to avoid damage that

sewer water cause to the roads. It is notable

that Eastleigh is experiencing acute stress in

services due to increased Development that is

not commensurate to the facilities like sewer

line leading to overflow at slight downpour.

Apart from narrow sewage system, Eastleigh

is also facing a major problem of garbage

disposal.

Under Vision 2030, the Government has

identified Eastleigh as a future Business and

Commercial hub while Upper Hill as the financial

hub of the East African Region. It is intended

that these upgrades of the Roads will spur

economic activity and decongest the Nairobi

Central Business District (NCBD) while attracting

investment.

Other roads under construction in this area

include General Waruinge and Ist Eastleigh

Avenue. These link this part of the city to Juja

Road and Outer Ring Roads as well as City

Centre. They are currently under construction

by H. Young & Company Ltd at a cost of

KShs.252Million and expected to be completed

in August this year.

Under Vision 2030, the Government has

identified Eastleigh as a future Business and

Commercial hub and Upper Hill as the Financial

Hub of the East African Region. It is intended

that these upgrades will spur economic activity

and decongest the Nairobi Central Business

District (NCBD) while attracting investment.

Rehabilitation of Rose Avenue, Kilimani

Nairobi

Rehabilitation of Rose Avenue Road was awarded

to triple K & I Construction Company Limited at

the cost of Kshs.44.5 million and commenced

in December 2012. They are to be complete by

end of June, 2013. The 0.7-kilometer road starts

at Denis Pritt Road and ends in Jabavu Road.

In as much as works is in progress, the

adverse rainy conditions experienced between

December and April, traffic flow, water and

sewerage leakages, encroachments on the road

corridors and delay in relocation of electricity

poles has been a great challenge to the project.

So far, road base, culvert and drainage works

are still pending, with these constituting a large

percentage of the project.

The city residents and visitors are assured of

better existence once these road infrastructure

works are completed. What good riddance to

the notorious traffic jams and a way to reduce

accidents along the busy roads! It could also be

a way to change the driving culture to a walking

one with good walking and cycling lanes.


Social Commentary

Drug Abuse

Contemporary Engineer

Mentorship

“The Asian Tigers”

Style Watch

ESA

Local and ContinentalFiber Optic Cable network

///// INFORGRAPH


///// MENTORSHIP MENTORSHIP \\\\\

Drug use and abuse is as old as

mankind itself. Wine was used at

least from the time of the early

Egyptians; narcotics from 4000 B.C.; and

medicinal use of Marijuana has been dated to

2737 B.C. in China. As early as 2737 B.C., the

mystical Emperor Shen Neng of China was

prescribing marijuana tea for the treatment of

gout, rheumatism, malaria and, oddly enough,

poor memory. The drug's popularity as a

medicine spread throughout Asia, the Middle

East and down the eastern coast of Africa, and

certain Hindu sects used marijuana for religious

purposes and stress relief. Ancient physicians

prescribed marijuana for everything from

pain relief to earache to childbirth. Doctors

also warned against overuse of marijuana,

believing that too much consumption caused

impotence, blindness and "seeing devils."

But not until the 19th century A.D. was the

active substances in the drugs extracted. There

followed a time when some of these newly

discovered substances-morphine, laudanum,

cocaine were completely unregulated and

prescribed freely by physicians for a wide

variety of ailments. With alcohol, it is likely the

first drug to have its potency increased through

the discovery of distillation. The strongest

naturally occurring alcohol preparation was

homemade wine, in which the alcohol level

could reach a high of about 14-16 % by volume.

Distillation of the alcohol into spirits such as

rum, rye, scotch, gin or vodka, can double

its potency. The distillation process later was

improved, allowing for over-proof spirits

and absolute alcohol (100% by volume). By

inference, in the more potent product,

less alcohol volume was required to

generate the desirable effect. Alcohol

represents mankind's overwhelming

desire to enhance the potency of the

preparation to be used or abused.

The problem of drug abuse is

so real especially in institutions of

higher learning and I feel there is a

great need to highlight the effects of

some of most commonly abused drugs

especially among engineering students.

Marijuana is one of the most famous

drugs in the streets. It goes my many

names. It is usually made into a hand-

rolled cigarette and then smoked. There

have been newer ways of consuming

it as it is baked into dough to make

cookies as well as cakes. For people

smoking it, the physical sell off of their

use may include red eyes, dry mouth and

throat, and they may have an increased

appetite, par t icular ly for snacks.

Mentally, they are likely to appear

relaxed and euphoric and their time and

space perceptions may be inaccurate.

They may seem sedated and drowsy.

They may have trouble learning and

remembering things and be unable

to concentrate. Sights, sounds and

tastes may seem more vivid to them.

Traces of marijuana stay in the body

for several days after use. If a person

has been using marijuana heavily, it

sometimes takes weeks for the traces

to be eliminated from the body. No

one has ever been known to die of

marijuana overdose. However there

are serious effects of overdose of THC.

THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) is

the chemical present in cannabis that is

responsible for addiction. High doses of

THC have been shown to result in mental

confusion, panic attacks and hallucination.

For students, Marijuana use affects

their abi l i ty to pay attention and

remember what one has learned. In

particular, what is damaged is the ability

to do complex tasks that require that

one focus and concentrate while handling a lot of

information. Difficulty thinking and problem-solving

have also been noted. The National Household Survey

on Drug Abuse in America noted that students with

lower grades were far more likely to use marijuana

that students with good grades but is it not clear if

marijuana was involved in causing those lower grades.

According to the 2011 World Drug Report, cannabis

products can produce temporary symptoms of

psychosis, loss of ability to learn or remember recent

events, reduced ability to carry out certain mental

tasks, make certain decisions and pay attention.

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests

that a person who starts using cannabis early and

uses is heavily could run an increased risk of psychotic

disorders. Yes one can go mad. Physically, marijuana

smokers have risks similar to those of smokers:

bronchitis, emphysema, asthma. Extensive use can

cause suppression of the immune system and can

increase the risk of cancer to the head, neck and lungs.

DrugAbuseProgress has been characterized by

significant changes to the ways in

which mundane tasks are carried out.

From the days of Ivan Pavlov to Albert Einstein,

from social-cultural to science, nothing has

been left to chance. Everyone wants to stay

relevant in their field of specialization hence

seizing any opportunity that crops up from left,

right or center. The ongoing transformation has

left engineers in the limbo, thus the need to

evolve and remain relevant to current times.

Contemporary engineers

have made a wide leap in the

engineer ing industr y. They

have manufactured superior

materials with advanced qualities

to help meet the ever changing

societal needs. Many materials

with high strength to weight ratio

have been mass-produced. Talk of

the polymer reinforced composites,

carbon reinforced composites and

other titanium-based materials. Steel

has been replaced by Kevlar where

necessary thus making things tougher

and l ighter. Microchips have been

developed, energy has been obtained at

molecular and atomic level and many other

fascinating engineering scenarios have been

accomplished. Sophisticated mechanisms

are employed to surmount the rising huddles.

The contemporar y eng ineer has

to juggle amongst culture, society, the

mater ia l needs and the safety of h is

customers in order to remain relevant in

the given society. They have to constantly

evolve and repackage themselves to suit the

dynamic needs of the growing population.

Sophisticated communication tools

and information equipment have been

developed. Telecommunication has evolved

from the 20th century to the 21st century.

Mobile phones have been developed. Even

before wired communication could be

fully understood wireless communication

technologies were developed. Progress is

the norm in this field and moving forward,

more ground breaking data transmission

technologies will continue to be developed.

The Contemporary EngineerThe worrying trends in the population

poses great hurdles to engineers. As it stands,

china, India and Indonesia are some of the

most populous countries in the world with

respective populations of 1158.2, 873 and 190

million people, with most of the population

residing in urban centers. This calls for

multifaceted and ingenious but light structures

to accommodate the entire population. The

little available space has to be put into good

and productive use. With the limited space,

engineers have resorted to maximize on space,

by building structures upward. The Taipei 101

is a good example. Oceans and seas have also

been reclaimed. The Dutch engineers did their

best by reclaiming Holland. The baj al Arab, the

iconic airport in Japan and the palm island are

among the complex structures that have been

constructed on man-made islands. The engineer

is currently and constantly looking for space

to build so as to avert the population growth

In actual sense, the contemporary engineer

is under constant pressure and need to compete

with Mother Nature, and in most cases, to

overcome the impending tragedies posed by the

furious Mother Nature. Tsunamis, earthquakes,

hurricanes and global warming are the key

issues posing challenges to today's engineer.

These put the engineers in the workshops

inventing new structures that can withstand

the forces of nature. Constant tests are done

on the materials before being deployed to the

field as safe and certified for construction.

Faster means of transport have to be

found to make the world a global village. Major

steps have to be made in the travel industry.

Faster means of transport, supersonic air

transport have to be made, talk of reinventing

the concord version of the plane. Indeed the

concord technology, with its swiftness, has

to be employed in the latest kings of the air

such as airbus and the kinds of Boeing 787.

Tramway and TGV have so far been made to

aid in transportation and mobility. This has

made the contemporary engineer to endure

straining kinematics and dynamics of the

modern generation. Other urbane means

of transport have to be invented. Supercars

and high-speed intercity high-ways with a

higher factor of safety have been constructed.

The autobahn in Germany is one of the

engineering marvels in the transport sector.

by Wycliffe Musasioby Paul Mbijiwe


The Corner-stone

that built a Tiger

COMMENTARY \\\\\///// MENTORSHIP

It so happens that, every year, students

are picked by the joint admissions

board to study different courses in

public universities. It also happens that in

most cases these students have little or no

information on what these fields entail or the

opportunities that come with studying them.

This happens because in most high schools

in Kenya, more emphasis is made on passing

KCSE, the university entry test and not on

nurturing proactive minds into choosing

career paths that they are well conversant

with, and where they are more likely to perform.

This unfortunate state of affairs can be

blamed for the poor performance in the

different fields. The students have been reduced

to think that passing of exams is the only way

to climb the ladder of success. This has seen

the students develop desperate traits that they

believe would assist them pass the crucial exams.

On 20th May, 2013, the University of

Nairobi admitted freshmen to the different

colleges and that make up the institution.

A good number were admitted to study

electrical engineering; yet a paltry number

really know what they are really studying or

where they'll end up at the end of their study.

Firstly, we need to understand what

engineering is. Engineering is the application

of scientif ic , economic, social and/ or

practical knowledge in order to design, build

and maintain structures, machines, devices,

systems, materials and/ or processes.

Electricity remains one of the most useful

inventions of man. From the simple experiments

of Thomas Edison, that helped design and

create the first electrical transmission and

lighting systems of the world in 1882, lighting

up the pearl street, Manhattan, new York

through a DC electrical supply of 110 V, to the

new sophisticated electrical and electronic

systems of the world, the field has seen a big

growth and creation of new career paths. The

electronics field has become very dynamic

from the invention of simple discrete electronic

components such as diodes, through the

integration of millions of such components onto

a single silicon chip to the microprocessors of

today; the field has seen unbelievable growth.

Closer home, we marvel at the growth

from a diesel generator acquired by the sultan

of Zanzibar in 1875 to light his palace and

neighbouring streets, through the creation of

the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, to

the now wide field of electrical and electronic

engineering. Graduates in the field either

end up working in heavy current fields that

involve production, distribution, storage or

use of electricity or work in the light current

field that involve specifically storage and use

of electric power. The heavy current field

include generation of electricity companies

such as Kenya power generating company

(kengen) and the distribution companies such

as Kenya Power. The light current industries

include the telecommunication industry, mass

communication industry, information technology

and other electronics based industries.

E lec t r i ca l eng ineer ing dea l s w i th

generation, storage and use of electrical

power, analysis of existing systems, designing

and creating new systems and products.

In the undergraduate study of electrical

engineering, one is expected to study units

that cover various subjects that include:

• engineering maths

• computer science

• physics

• project management

The undergraduate studies take a period

of 5 years in Kenyan universities. Physics and

mathematics form the basic foundations of

the course. Computer science is necessary

as engineers use computers in designing the

systems and devices and in maintenance of such

systems. Project management is important as

most engineers will find themselves managing

a team of technicians or other engineers in

execution of a project. Graduates can then

choose to major in any of the sub disciplines

of electrical engineering such as power

engineering, control engineering, signal

processing, telecommunication engineering,

computer engineering for their postgraduate

studies depending on their interest. At the

University of Nairobi,a masters degree

programme is offered taking a period of 2

years and those who successfully complete

are awarded the master of science in

electr ical and electronic engineering.

At the end of the undergraduate studies,

one is awarded the Bachelor of Science degree

in Electrical and electronic engineering.

A fresh graduate needs to be registered by

the engineers' board of Kenya (E.B.K) before

they can go into practice. Practising electrical

engineers are involved in a wide range of

fields: design and maintenance of electrical

supply systems of the country which include

the design of the national grid, many advances

in biomedicine were pioneered by electrical

engineers and they still play a big role in the

maintenance and improvement of the imaging

and control systems in the medicine industry.

Major software companies like Microsoft employ

electrical engineers, airplane manufacturers

such as Boeing and air bus also employ electrical

engineers to build electrical and computer

systems in the aeroplanes that will be failure

free and backup systems in case of failure.

Most astronomical observers also employ

electrical engineers to design their telescopes

and other optical instruments and also to do

advanced signal processing. Electrical engineers

can also help design devices to aid those with

impaired hearing, sight or other impairments.

Telecommunication

Electrical engineers strive to keep everyday

people and emergency services connected

with higher data rates and reliability using

the internet, radios, cell phones, satellites

and other devices including development of

cognitive radio systems to allow emergency

services to communicate with each other, quick

deployment ad-hoc communication networks

for special security units, embedding emergency

communication systems in large buildings,

setting up of private networks/communication

for security personnel/ special functions

such as the virtual private network set up by

Safaricom for IEBC during the last elections.

Nanotechnology

Electrical engineers are involved in

research and developing future nano-

devices and materials for electronics,

medical applications and renewable energy.

So as you decide to study electrical

engineering know that you are entering

a wide profess ional f ie ld that o f fers

yo u l o t s a n d l o t s o f o p p o r t u n i t i e s .

Being an Engineering:lectricalngineer

Under the very real threat of nuclear

annihilation and having already

experienced two atomic bombs,

Japan surrendered to the United States. This

was 1945 and Japan was on its knees. 1965

and Singapore was facing unemployment, a

housing crisis, low levels of education and

lack of natural resources. In 1965 Singapore

to note was just as "poor" as Kenya and if the

growth of the two economies ran parallel,

Kenya would have been a first world country

by now. By 1953 South Korea was reeling from

the effects of decades of brutal colonization

and the equally brutal Korean War. In short

there was very little optimism going round in

the east at the time. This included Malaysia

and Taiwan. So what changed because reading

this you are well aware that the economy of

Japan is the third largest in the world. Singapore

has one of the highest GDP in the world as of

now. Mention South Korea or Taiwan and an all

conquering electronics industry comes to mind.

Industrialization is the gold standard for

how far an economy has developed. Mention

any of the above countries and you will associate

a global brand that acts as a flag bearer of some

sort. Japan has the iconic Sony brand (this was

the Apple of the 80s and 90s) and Nippon

Steel. Taiwan has HTC and Acer. South Korea

has Samsung, Hyundai and LG to mention just a

few. It is no coincidence all the companies that

define these countries have their foundations

in engineering. These countries realized that to

rise from the ashes of the 20th century they

had to invest in a policy of industrialization.

With the exception of Japan these were new

budding economies dubbed the tigers, emerging

from a tumultuous mid twentieth century in the

south of Asia. The then recently independent

Kenya seemed set for a s imi lar path.

Expectations were high as Southeast

Asia was settling down in the 1950s.Malaysia,

Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South

Korea went ahead and surpassed these

expectations. Kenya did not. The stories

of Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and

South Korea are not so different. The tigers

set industrialization as the vehicle that would

take them to a whole new economic status.

Good engineer ing is the backbone of

industr ia l izat ion and these countr ies

invested heavily in production of world

class engineers for that single purpose.

One in four South Korean undergraduate

students is an engineering major. This is by no

coincidence. The South Korean school system

is designed around the country's economic

needs. South Korea was in need of a rebirth

half a century ago where most of it's population

was made of uneducated farmers. A little

over sixty years later South Korea is a fully

industrialized nation producing everything

from semiconductor products to oil tankers.

Singapore with no natural resources apart from

its people is one of the most developed nations in

the world along with having the most advanced

technological capabilities in Southeast Asia. A

fourth of all undergraduate degrees in Taiwan

are engineering degrees. Engineering became

a highly revered profession and coupled with

the heavy investment in engineering education

saw these countries rise from mere assembly

factories for western companies in the 1960s

to producing their own products and competing

with much more established western companies.

Suddenly for the likes of General Electric, Ford

and Intel, the customer became a competitor.

Having engineers with sound technical

knowledge and skill in one's country is an

invaluable asset as it proved for Germany,

France, Italy, Russia, the United States and

Britain . With a second wave of countries

some of whom are Brazil, India and South

Africa looking to emulate the Asian tigers I

hope Kenya does not miss this train again.

by Kennedy Kituyi

by Kevin Odongo


On 2nd November, 1929 , Noni and

Charlotte Bose welcomed to their

lives a squalling baby boy who they

named Amar. Eighty-three years later Amar

would die having made Bose a household

name and taught many great engineers, not to

mention made himself a billionaire. However, he

had a humble beginning to life. Amar's father

was a political dissident who had been active

in the Indian independence movement until

he immigrated to the U.S. in 1920, married,

and moved to a suburb in Philadelphia.

During World War II, the elder Bose's

business- importing coconut-fiber doormats

from India-became impossible when nonmilitary

shipping was suspended. The teenage Amar

suggested that his father post signs at the

hardware stores where he once sold his mats,

offering radio-repair services. With his father

gathering the radios and young Amar fixing

them in the basement after school, the business

helped support the family through the war

years. In 1947 his father borrowed $10,000

so that Bose could attend the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology, to which he says

he was admitted "by the skin of my teeth."

Although Bose had tremendous practical

experience in electronics, he came to MIT lacking

a background in calculus. Realizing that he was

"outclassed," he applied himself to his studies

with a tenacity he had lacked in high school.

Among other austerity measures, he limited

STYLE \\\\\///// MENTORSHIP

himself to two hours a week listening to his

beloved classical music. Nine years later, Bose

finished his doctoral research and decided to

reward himself with a first-class stereo system.

He approached the task, he says, like a typical

engineer. He studied the literature and bought

the best system based on the specifications.

But when he took it home and plugged it in,

it sounded terrible. He was disappointed and

confused. His ears told him the exact opposite

of what he had been taught should sound good.

Bose suddenly grew weary of writing his

doctoral thesis on complex variable theory.

His thoughts had turned to acoustics and

psychoacoustics, which he pursued for the next

12 years. He would eventually debunk most of

the prevailing wisdom on high-fidelity sound

reproduction. Today we can enjoy the fruits of

that work with the amazing Bose headphones -

a must have for any self-respecting audiophile.

In 1966, encouraged by his years of late-

night acoustics research suggesting that the

role of reflected sound had been overlooked,

Bose introduced a speaker that used multiple

small loudspeakers to take advantage of the fact

that 80 to 90 percent of sound from a speaker

radiates backward. The system did away with

woofers and tweeters and incorporated an

active equalizer. To work correctly, the speakers

had to be placed in the corners of the room.

The first speakers were a flop. But Bose's

reputation grew with the introduction of the

second-generation Bose 901 speakers, followed

by the 301 speakers and the Wave Radio. In

1978, on a flight from Zurich, Bose hit on the

idea for noise-canceling headphones' and

managed to work out the essential equations

by the time he landed. And in 1982, drawn by

the possibilities for high-quality audio in cars,

he teamed up with ACDelco to develop custom-

configured sound systems for particular models.

As he was working on his doctorate,

Bose was drafted to teach MIT's introductory

network-theory class. He reluctantly agreed to

try it for two years. Taking a non-conventional

approach of inviting other professors to lead

sessions where students would be invited to

think aloud rather than learn formulae, Bose's

class developed a cult following. He would

go on to inspire many engineering students

on to greatness over the next 45 years. He

would later donate most of his fortune to MIT

so that more great research could be done.

Amar Bose always loved fast cars. This

passion and his insatiable curiosity led him to

question if there was a way to get sports cars

around corners faster while retaining comfort.

In 1980 he decided to find out. Automakers

had spent half a century optimizing fluid-

based suspension hardware, but Bose came

at it from a completely different direction,

disregarding hardware assumptions and

limitations and focusing first on figuring out

what kind of performance was theoretically

possible. The research program began with

five years of mathematical analysis, which

revealed a tremendous performance gap; one

that could not be closed by making adjustments

to ex ist ing shock-absorber hardware.

A shock absorber can only absorb energy

and the inherent inertia of fluids makes any

pneumatic or hydraulic system incapable

of reacting fast enough to give the desired

performance. In 1985 the team began focusing

Amar Bose: Style Watch:Karl Heinz Design

Better living through curiosity

continued on pg. 52....

Born in Cameroon Karl Heinz is currently

pursuing a degree in Mechanical

Engineering at the University of

Nairobi ; everything he does is a striking

reflection of of his sense of style, spirituality and

joy in learning and embracing different cultures

thus reinforcing his sharp attention to detail ,

proportion, color and most of all cut.

The contemporary man who appreciates

traditional practicality coupled with modern age

designs is his muse. His signature design ethos

involves taking the best cloth in the market, the

best possible artisans and the most fitting trims

to simply make the best suits your money can

buy.

Driven by the delight in making the most unique

collection of pieces made to the highest exacting

standards , his collection offers a sizzling mix of

of custom clothing and ready to wear garments.

The clothing line is a fitting representation of a

most sophisticated gentleman with exceptional

taste.

Each bespoke suit involves a time-honored

process tailored to the individual, leading to the

creation of a style unique only to the wearer

and consists of hand made clothing that brings

out the character and expresses the man within.

For more information:[email protected]

www.wordpress.karlheinzdesign.com

by Tony Mugita

by Robert Abuya


///// ADVERTORIAL ADVERTORIAL \\\\\

The Youth Enterprise Development Fund

(YEDF) was conceived by the Kenyan

government in June 2006 as one of the

strategies of addressing youth unemployment.

It was gazetted on 8th December 2006 and

officially launched by the former immediate

President Mwai Kibaki on 1st February 2007.The

Fund is one of the flagship projects of Vision

2030, under the social pillar. Vision 2030, the

country's economic blueprint aims to attain

a middle income economy for the next 17

years. In particular, it sees YEDF as a strategy

of gainfully engaging the youth in social and

economic development, majority of whom are

unemployed. This will be achieved through

provision of credit facilities and equipping the

youth with appropriate skills and capacities

to creatively engage in economically viable

activities.

In particular, the Fund has a mandate to:

• Provide loans for on-lending to youth

enterprises.

• Attract and facilitate investment in

micro, small and medium enterprises

oriented commercial infrastructure that

will be beneficial to youth enterprises.

• Support youth oriented micro, small

and medium enterprises to develop

linkages with large enterprises.

• Facilitate marketing of products and

services of youth enterprises both in

the domestic and the international

markets.

• Provide business development services

to youth enterprises.

• Facilitate employment of youth in the

international labour market.

In an effort to meet the diverse needs of young

people, the Fund has introduced loans for youth

keen on doing business in specific sectors of

the economy. In this kind of financing, the Fund

provides credit to youth interested in doing

business in specific sectors of the economy.

To enhance their success rate, the Fund has

partnered with experienced players in such

fields who provide the needed continuous

technical support to the youth. Some of the

identified sectors include green house farming

and poultry business.

Youth groups receive egg hatching

incubators

Five youth groups from Central Kenya received

the first batch of egg hatching incubators

from the YEDF. The groups from the then

Mathira, Olkalou, Mwea, Kandara and Nyeri

town constituencies received their incubators

at a ceremony held on 22nd May 2013 at the

Fund's central region office in Nyeri town. The

youth are among hundreds of others who have

successful applied for the new incubator loan

product recently launched by the Youth Fund.

The loan product targets young farmers who

are engaged in poultry farming and are looking

for modern techniques to increase their yields

for commercial purposes. The credit facility

allows them to access the state of the art

egg hatching incubators which guarantees

high quality and increased quantity of eggs

hatched. The computerized and automatic egg

hatching incubator has a capacity to hatch 528

eggs, with 95 per cent success rate. In addition,

the incubator comes with a 3 years warranty

for its spare parts and 2 years for labour

extension services. The loan for the incubator

is Kshs 208,530 and attracts no interest. While

presenting the incubators to the youth groups,

the regional

Coordinator for Central Kenya, Mr. Samuel

Njue congratulated the young farmers for

embracing modern methods of farming. He

said that this was a positive step towards

enhancing food security in their community as

well as the country at large. Mr. Njue stresssed

that the demand for poultry products is high

in the region and that the ball is now on their

court to bridge the gap. He added: "The loan

product does not only target youth groups

but also individuals, especially those who

are already in poultry farming or keen on

venturing into the business." He therefore

urged young people whether in groups or as

individuals to embrace the product in order to

harness its potential for social and economic

sustainability. "Comprehensive training The

groups also underwent comprehensive training

on how to use the incubators as well as poultry

management. Key topics discussed during the

training included housing, bio security, feeding,

vaccination, disease prevention and treatment

among others.

Project summary

• So far, YEDF has provided the incubators

to successful young applicants in Central

and lower Eastern Region. It is also in

the process of providing to those in

Nairobi Region, that includes Kiambu

and Kajiado Counties

• The successful borrowers were taken

through a half day training on poultry

management that covers topics such as

housing, brooding, feeding, vaccination,

disease prevention and treatment, and

marketing among others. The trainers

provided reference contacts in case of

urgent technical assistance and other

extension services

Easy and affordable access to green house

farming

Young and budding small scale farmers

undertaking agribusiness across the country

have now easy and affordable access to modern

farming inputs, thanks to the partnership

between Youth Enterprise Fund and Amiran

Kenya Limited. The partnership aims to enable

young farmers to increase their agricultural

productivity by acquiring farm inputs and

agricultural training that would see them shift

from traditional to modern farming methods.

In this partnership, the Youth Enterprise

Development Fund provides financial support

in form of the "Agri vijana loan" of up to KES

358,334 to young farmers, who are in groups

as well as individuals, to purchase farmers

kits from Amiran Kenya. The loan attracts no

interest but includes 8 per cent management

fee.

The initiative has recorded overwhelming

success across the country for the short period

since it was launched in 2012. At least 54 youth

groups have benefited from the initiative to the

tune of about KES 19.6 million. Groups from

Central and Nairobi region have recorded the

highest uptake while those from coast and

North Eastern regions have recorded the lowest.

The qualified youth groups and individuals are

expected to raise at least 10 per cent of the cost

and have access to a minimum of a quarter acre

of land, as well as access to water. They have a

grace period of up to four months before they

start repaying the loan which can be adjusted

according to the maturity time of the crop.

The loan repayment is structured according to

yielding seasons of the crop

where repayments are higher

during the high yielding

season and lower during the

low yielding season.

Amiran Farmers Kit

The Amiran farmers k i t

is designed to meet their

specific needs and include

two greenhouse tunnels,

a drip irrigation system,

collapse water tank, "gold"

medal seeds, nursery set,

h igh qual i t y fer t i l i zers ,

agrochemicals, health and

sa fe t y pro tec t i ve gear,

training, agrosupport, and

insurance for the crop.

Accord ing to Cather ine

Namuye, acting CEO, Youth

Enterprise DevelopmentFund,

the initiative is part of the

YEDF's mandate of promoting

enterprises through provision of credit and other

business development services. It is also in line

with the Fund's focus on providing sector specific

loan products to young people to enable them

take advantage of their talents and resources in

their vicinity and do business. "Early last year,

the fund set aside Kshs. 150 million to help

purchase a total of 420 greenhouses targeting

young farmers engaged in agribusiness

across the country" said Ms. Namuye. The

Kenya Economic Survey 2013 indicates that

majority of the youths are unemployed. Many

of them shun embracing entrepreneurship and

other informal employment opportunities in

preference for white collar jobs. While this is the

case, the "Agri vijana loan" initiative resolved

to introduce a paradigm shift. In particular,

the product is meant to attract many young

people into agribusiness as a viable trade

option to help them create self employment

and attain financial independence. "We expect

that thousands of youth will be attracted to

this 'cool' farming concept and therefore be

gainfully engaged," she said.

Namuye said that the loan product enables

young people to not only access sel f

employment but also improve on food security

in the country. "Despite the strides made

towards industrialization in the country, the

reason for giving this sector specific loan is

because, for a long while, our economy will still

remain agriculture-based. Therefore, farming is

the most viable option to create employment

and enhance food security," she ends.

“Youth EnterpriseDevelopment Fund”

Empowering the youth through innovative agribusiness credit facilities

by Ken Kimani

The Student Engineer 49

MAY - SEP (2013)

SEP 2013 - JAN 2014

JAN - APRIL (2014)

Sun 5th May - Sat 11th May

Sun 12th May- Sat 18th May 16th May

Sun 19th May- Sat 25th May 22nd May Orientation 23rd May

Sun 9th June- Sat 15th June 12th June Outreach, Pumwani Boys High School, 15th June

JKUAT Career Fair

Sun 16th June- Sat 22nd June General Electric, Awards ceremony, 21st June

Sun 23rd June- Sat 29th June General Electric, Awards ceremony,

21st June

Sun 23rd June- Sat 29th June First year football games

Sun 30th June- Sat 6th July 2nd July First year football games

Sun 14th July- Sat 20th July 16th July

Sun 21st July- Sat 27th July 23rd July

Sun 28th July- Sat 3rd Aug 30th July Magazine 7th Aug

Sun 4th Aug- Sat 10th Aug 6th Aug



Sun 25th Aug- Sat 31st Aug 27th Aug

Sun 1st Sep- Sat 7th Sep 3rd Sep

Sun 8th Sep- Sat 14th Sep Registration AGM, 18th Sep

Badiliqa, 21st Sep

AGM, 18th Sep

Sun 15th Sep- Sat 21st Sep

Sun 22nd Sep- Sat 28th Sep Acknowledging Kenya's Technological Renaissance and the university's role in it

Talk

Sun 29th Sep- Sat 5th Oct Dinner, 5th Oct Magazine 30th Sep

Sun 6th Oct- Sat 12th Oct Community Service Talk

Sun 13th Oct- Sat 19th Oct Community Outreach

Sun 20th Oct- Sat 26th Oct Public Image/Cultural Week Public Image

Consultant TalkSun 27th Oct- Sat 2nd Nov Miss ESA, 1st Nov JKUAT Expo 31st Oct

Sun 3rd Nov- Sat 9th Nov Talk

Sun 10th Nov- Sat 16th Nov

Sun 17th Nov- Sat 23rd Nov Talk

Sun 24th Nov- Sat 30th Nov

Sun 8th Dec- Sat 14th DecEXAMINATIONS 2013

Sun 15th Dec- Sat 21st Dec

Sun 22nd Dec- Sat 28th DecCHRISTMAS BREAK

Sun 29th Dec- Sat 4th Jan

Sun 5th Jan- Sat 11th Jan - First year orientation - Recreational trip (3 days)

Sun 12th Jan- Sat 18th Jan Networking in Kits Magazine, 13th Jan

Sun 19th Jan- Sat 25th Jan Sports Day, 24th Jan

Sun 26th Jan- Sat 1st Feb Human Resource/

Communication Skills

HR Talk

Sun 2nd Feb- Sat 8th Feb

Sun 9th Feb- Sat 15th Feb Building Leaders of

tommorrow today

Career Fair & Innovation Week

Sun 16th Feb- Sat 22nd Feb

Sun 23rd Feb- Sat 1st Mar Mentorship Talk by UON Alumni

Sun 2nd Mar- Sat 8th Mar Community Outreach Magazine 7th March

Sun 9th Mar- Sat 15th Mar Talk

Sun 16th Mar- Sat 22nd Mar

Sun 23rd Mar- Sat 29th Mar New Leaders Elections, 28th March

Sun 30th Mar- Sat 5th AprNEW OFFICIALS

Sun 6th Apr- Sat 12th Apr

Sun 13th Apr- Sat 19th AprEXAMINATIONS 2014

Sun 20th Apr - Sat 26th Apr

///// ESA CALENDAR

WEEK

WEEK THEME WEEK TALK/TRIP MAGAZINE/OTHER

MEETINGS EVENTS OTHER


///// ESA INFORGRAPHIC \\\\\

Joy Nancy Ogechi

Chairperson

A student of Electrical and Information

Engineering. Prior to being Chairperson

of ESA, Nancy was the Academic Affairs

Secretary where she was involved in seeing to

the academic pursuits of the students through

planning career and mentorship talks. She is

a student member of Architectural Association

of Kenya, Institute of Electrical and Electronic

Engineers and STEMAfrica. She intends to

use her year in office to make a positive

impact on others around her by providing

resources and opportunities for members,

so they have a memorable experience.

Norbert Maosa Ombese

Vice Chairperson

An Electrical Engineering student who has a

passion for machines and technical devices.

He believes he is a current affairs guru and a

soccer and rugby fanatic. He is out going, easy

to get along with and God fearing. He plans to

bring as many corporates as possible on board

in order to make it easier for engineering

students to get internships. He aspires to create

an ESA club similar to TOAST Model where the

UoN geeks can meet weekly to share ideas.

Onyango Dickens Odhiambo

Secretary General

A student of Electrical and Information

Engineering, who is also a certified ethical

hacker. He has worked as a marketing

manager for Kenya Aspirants, ambassador to

TechnoBrain and an intern at Kenya National

Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Pubic Works

.He is a member of the IEK, IEEE, I-hub, SADASA,

FabLab,United Nation Student Association

and Global Ethical Hacker Association. He

is also a member of the South Africa Rally

Association and Rift-valley Car and Sport Club.

Gichia H. Nyagaki

Financial Secretary

An Electrical Engineering Student with a

background in accounting . She hopes to

advance her career towards automation and

robotics. She is heavily involved in outreach

projects involving women and children and

her wish is to help empower women living

in marginalized areas through the use of

technology to make them more self- sufficient.

Atanasio Mugambi Mutiria

Social Affairs Secretary

An Electrical Engineering Student who believes

in team building as a chief ingredient for any

organization that expects maximum output from

its available human resource. He also believes

that setting personal goals and standards

creates an intrinsic motivation to achieve them.

Nancy Waweru

Academic Affairs Secretary

A student of Civil and Construction Engineering

and a holder of Advanced Diploma in

Bus iness Management f rom ABE UK .

She has previously worked at: Kenya Urban

Roads Authority, Jofrim E.A (Ltd), Kenya Institute

of Management, Independent Electoral and

Boundaries Commission and Weco Engineering

Consultant. She is an Associate member of

the Association of Business Executives (UK),

Association of Civil Engineering Students-

UoN where she is the chairperson. She is an

enthusiastic young engineer and an ardent

team-player with good leadership skills.

Cynthia Mukabana Osundwa

Vice Academica Affairs Secretary

Cynthia is a Civil Engineering student at the

University of Nairobi. She enjoys spending her

free time away from the tech world camping,

baking and listening to music. She loves

the young in everything! Watching anything

grow from tenderness to mighty is of great

motivation to her and keeps her going.

Reagan Magangi Kyaka

Public Secretary

Reagan is a determined and dependable

person. He has an interest in photography,

art and design and he enjoys swimming.

Richard Omune

Mechanical Eng. Representative

A M e c h a n i c a l E n g i n e e r i n g s t u d e n t .

He is a business analyst at Deloitte's

R isk Adv isor y depar tment .He i s a l so

the founder of Tr isquared Associates,

Richard is a member of ICPAK and holds a

Diploma in Business and Information Technology

and a CPA both from Strathmore University.

Fredrick W. Nyongesa

Environmental and Biosystem Engineering

Representative

Fredrick is a student of Environmental and

Biosystems Engineering. He serves as the

Chairperson of Environmental and Biosystems

Engineering Students' Association. He believes

that with the diverse, unique and substantial goals

that the committee shares, they are determined

to put engineering students in the lead and

provide solutions to their day to day challenges.

ESA Profiles THE INTERNET IN60 SECONDS

Standing: Nancy Waweru, Reagan, Cynthia, Nyagaki, Fredrick, RichardSeated:Ombese, Nancy Ogechi, Dickens


///// COMMENTARY COMMENTARY \\\\\

on an electromagnetic solution. Such an

approach would be possible only with

high-efficiency, high-power linear motors

and amplifiers. It would require extremely

complex control algorithms to stabilize

the motors and fast microcomputers to

run the system. None of these existed.

Having identified the huge divide

between what was available and what

was theoretically possible, Bose's

suspension team took on the challenge

of designing high-speed linear motors,

control algorithms and high-efficiency

ampl i f iers . They hoped that the

computer industry would make sufficient

strides on their fourth essential item,

high-speed processing. They began

testing designs and software, and by

1989, they had developed a prototype

that was ready to be road-tested.

At its heart are linear electromagnetic

motors installed at each wheel in place

of traditional shock absorbers. Power

amplifiers based on technologies Bose

pioneered at MIT deliver electricity to

the motors in response to signals from

the control algorithms. The motors move

so quickly and forcefully that they can

extend downward to roll the tire through

a deep rut and then retract fast enough

that the car's occupants perceive nothing

more than a mild stirring. On the far

side of the pothole, the motor operates

as a generator, so the suspension

requires less than a third of the power

of a typical car air-conditioning system.

Such achievements have only been

possible because of Bose's overarching

philosophy: Better living through curiosity.

Bose follows the objects of his curiosity

until the matter is solved, no matter

how long it takes or how much it costs.

Amar Bose passed away on

12th July, 2013, having lived

a life that is an inspiration to

all of us as engineers.

....continued from pg. 42

by Geoffrey Mosongo

by Matthew Oyaya

Solar panel conversion efficiency is

an imperative aspect in achieving

e n e rg y e f f i c i e n c y, b u t t h i s i s

reduced by dust, grime, pollen, and other

particulates that accumulate on the solar

panel. This dirt reduces the solar panel's

capabilities by up to 30% implying that the

panel's efficiency is significantly reduced.

In order to achieve maximum efficiency,

the solar panels have to be cleaned, cleaning

dirty panels with commercial detergents

can be time-consuming, costly, hazardous to

the environment, or even corrode the solar

panel frame. Ideally solar panels should

be cleaned every few weeks to maintain

peak efficiency, which is especially hard to

do for large solar-panel arrays. The cost of

cleaning averages at Ksh. 500 per panel but

that might not sound like a lot of money, but

if you have 10,000 panels it adds up quickly.

To solve this problem, a group of nano-

physicists developed a self-cleaning nano-

hydrophobic material that coats the solar

panel to maintain peak efficiency over longer

periods of time. The coating itself is very

robust. An actual covalent linkage holds it to

the surface of the panel, creating a strong

chemical bond. This is a big advantage over

spray-on coatings, which gradually degrade."

The principle behind a hydrophobic

coating is that the layer forms a barrier so

that water accumulates on the surface in an

almost spherical shape, but is blocked from

adhering to the surface by the barrier. This

means that when a treated surface is tilted

at an angle, the water rolls off the surface

like "a sphere rolling down a slide." What is

unique in this case is that the nano-coating is

so thin (8 nanometers) compared to normal

hydrophobic coatings that can be microns thick.

The nano-hydrophobic coating can be

applied to a variety of surface materials,

including glass, aluminum, cloth fibers, wood,

textiles, and plastic. The layer is so thin that it

does not scatter light, and therefore, does not

interfere with the solar panel's performance.

Water is one of the main reasons solar

panels get dir ty. Rain and condensation

settle in the micro-depressions present in the

glass surface, where they attract particulate

matter. The water quickly evaporates, leaving

a dirty residue behind that is difficult to

remove. However, an application of the nano-

hydrophobic layer fills in the micro-depressions,

Success in education requires a mix of

passion, hard work and support from

relevant communities. The tech world

is changing so rapidly and initiatives that link

students to the industry are becoming more

and more important. Google facilitates one such

initiative through its Google Student Ambassador

(GSA) program - where they partner with

academia to promote the use of technology in

everyday lives. This is in line with the Google

mission: to organize the world'sinformation

and make it universally accessible and useful.

The Google Student Ambassador Program

is an opportunity for students to act as liaisons

between Google and their universities. Google

Student Ambassadors are given a unique

opportunity to serve as liaisons between Google

and university for the duration of one academic

year, holding workshops, training and events

with their campus community around Google's

core products, programs and initiatives.

How many Google Student Ambassadors

(GSAs) are there in the University of Nairobi?

Only three, two from the School of Engineering -

Michelle Ngure and Geoffrey Mosongo (both from

the Department of Electrical and Information

Engineering) and one from Law School.

As it is always the case, charity begins at

home and the two GSAs from the School of

Engineering plan to host a series of events

with students and staff members to bring them

up to speed with the latest Google products.

A typical event may involve trainings

and hands on experience complete with

demos on Google Apps for Education. The

University of Nairobi went Google a long

time ago and Google Apps for Education are

ubiquitous within campus, the common one

being the students email @students.uonbi.

ac.ke. Others include Google calendar, Google

Sites and Google Drive. Another example

of an event can be a map up/edit event of

some Campuses within the University. Bottom

line, Google events are always fun-filled.

UoN Google Student Ambassador (GSA) Program

creating a smooth glass surface that cannot

hold water. As water is repelled by the surface

it will also pick up and carry away the dust

and dirt, thereby cleaning the panel naturally.

The materials were been tested at the

FOCAS Institute in the Dublin Institute for

Technology in Ireland, and the preliminary

results have shown that the coating repels

both fresh and saltwater, indicating it should

be effective in marine climates as well.

The product, named the "Self-Cleaning

Hydrophobic Coatings (SCHN107) Layer, when

commercialized will improve the efficiency

and reduce the maintenance needed for

any photovoltaic system. The proprietary

coating will also allow deployment of solar

panels in harsh (dust, salt) environments

with minimum performance degradation.

Because it works so well on a variety

of d i f ferent sur faces , SCNH107 has a

number of potential applications in aviation,

aerospace, medical devices, advanced

manufacturing, natural sciences, renewable

energ y, and arch i tec ture , bo th as a

hydrophobic layer and an anti-corrosive.

Maximizing Energy Efficiency: Self-Cleaning solar panels

None of these. A hot enough flame with ionised

parts can be considered a plasma. A flame is

the part of a fire that we see and feel. Neither

of these is a material but what produces them

is , and therefore is in a particular state of

matter while the flame exists. For a fire to

be produced we need heat, oxygen and fuel.

When these three things are combined, a

chemical reaction takes place, which produces

new compunds. In the case of wood we get

charcoal and gas made of carbon, hydrogen

and oxygen. As this gas is heated it breaks

down and forms new substances in the form

of water, carbon dioxide, and other products.

The flame produced by these gases releases

energy in the form of light and heat, hence a

flame. To prove these substances are a gas,

scientists analyse the light from the flame

using spectroscopy, which will show what

elements are present.

Is a Flame a Solid, Liquid or Gas?

august sep se

Documents

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student engineer magazine

esa executive committee

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valuable opportunity

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enthusiastic team