Kenya could have its first Innovation Academy if a proposal being considered by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology is accepted by the Government and other stakeholders. The idea, a result of an elaborate four-day visit (June 28 to July 2, 2010), to the University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland, by a group University dons, could see the country’s research and innovation activities get a boost. The three visiting dons were: Dr. Joseph Muliaro Wafula-Director ICT and Senior Lecturer Department of Computing and leader of the delegation; Prof. Kamau Ngamau, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture and Associate Professor Department of Horticulture; and Ms. Agnes Naliaka Mindila, Lecturer, Department of Computing and a ... more

JKUAT becomes the first institution in the region to develop Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) curriculum. The training which will be launched in September this year, is designed to develop market driven skills and knowledge needed to drive the fast-paced BPO sector. It is estimated that the industry has the potential to create 80,000 jobs and generate Kshs. 40 billion annually hence supporting the realization of making Kenya a regional hub in BPO as espoused in the Vision 2030. However, findings filed by a taskforce commissioned by the Ministry of Information and Communication, showed that despite enormous business growth in the sector, there was lack of coordinated training. The study acknowledged that in order to boost the dev... more

JKUAT researchers led by Dr. Njue Mugai of the department of Horticulture have shown that liming of tea growing acid soils around Mt. Kenya region can lead to massive increase in maize yields. The researchers are developing guidelines on the amounts of lime to be applied depending on soil acidity levels. They also intend to publish a booklet and a quick soil liming kit for use by farmers. Six weeks after planting a). Unlimed            &... more

The fifth Professor's Luncheon was held on July 6, 2010 at JKUAT main campus (Juja). The guest professor was Prof. Norah Khadzini Olembo. Prof. Olembo is the Executive Director of African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF). She holds a Post Doctoral Degree in Molecular Biology from Courthould Institute (University of London) in the United Kingdom, a Post Graduate Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Nairobi (UoN), Masters Degree in Zoology from UoN, Bachelor of Science Degree in Ch... more

JKUAT's ICT Directorate has taken prisons and probation officers through an intensive training on computer application to data management. The two week training sponsored by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics took place on June 7th to June 18th, 2010 for the first group (63 trainees) and the second group (70 trainees) on June 21st to July 2nd, 2010. The trainees have been imparted with useful skills in general usage of computers, application of SPSS for data analysis, development and management of databases using Oracle DBMS as well as report generation and presentation. It is hoped that the skills gained by the officers will go a long way to enhance the management of data in the correctional and rehabilitation institu... more

Dr. Kibicho Karanja has been appointed by His Excellency the President, Mwai Kibaki as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industrialization. Dr. Kibicho, a mechanical engineer, has been involved in array of engineering projects with some commissioned by the government.  One of the projects that he has done was the evaluation of the pumping capacity of the Mombasa-Nairobi oil pipeline of the Kenya Pipeline Company Limited. This appointment has been received with a lot of excitement in the university not only because of the government’s confidence in the institutional human resource competence but also because the government has taken into account the skills required to execute the job effectively. Speaking on th... more

Dr. John Kihoro from JKUAT School of e-Learning explains a point to a section of visitors anxious to get first hand information on the operations of DyneMathsDyneMaths System used for e-content generation. Dr. Kihoro was in  Lusaka-Zambia attending a three day conference on ICT for development, education and training last May 2010.... more

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) has received praise for embracing change that has seen researchers in the Juja based institution shift from the traditional research aimed at publishing to modern research focusing on inventions. The revelations were made Friday June 4, 2010 by Prof. James Otieno-Odeck, Managing Director of Kenya Intellectual Property Institute (KIPI) who said he had so far received up to 42 innovations from Kenya’s universities and JKUAT, with... more

Access e-books and journals free of charge at  - Emerald Group Publishing (www.emeraldinsight.com) between 16th June and16th of July 2010  - Oxford Scholarship Online (www.oxfordscholarship.com) between 1st June and 1 July 2010  - Springer e-books  (www.springerlink.com) between  2nd June and 2nd August  2010 Please take advantage of the free trial and give a feedback of your experience to the librarian at library@jkuat.ac.ke or at any section in the library.... more