Student engineer march may 2012

Topic Student Engineer

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Mar 2012 - May 2012 Student Engineer

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UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

ROYAL SATIMA The freshest pure bottled mineral water you can trust

ROYAL SATIMA MINERAL WATER Royal Satima Mineral water is one of the leading brands of natural mineral water supply to the consumer market.

Royal Satima mineral water is the cleanest, purest and most excellent tasting natural mineral water.

We have a state of the art fully atomized plant which has enabled us to meet the growing demand of our water.

Royal Satima aims to strengthen its market share by constantly enhancing the excellence of its products through a process of continuous improvement and innovative manufacturing and marketing strategies.

Our strict adherence to international quality standards has been well awarded. We provide customized no matter how large or small.

Our ground water source is located at our Upper Kabete Campus. The water source is surrounded by acres of protected land. The water is so pure and crystal clear, making it one of the best drinking water in Kenya.

Email: businesscentre@uonbi.ac.ke 2

For enquiries pleas contact: University of Nairobi Harry Thuku Road.

P. O. Box 30197 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: 254-020-318262, Ext. 28373/8 254-020-2503598 Fax: 254-020-2245566 E-mail: businesscentre@uonbi.ac.ke

Student Engineer Mar Mar 2012 2012 -- May May 2012 2012

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Editorial Student Engineer

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR IN CHIEF FELIX ARINGO MANAGING EDITOR JAMES NJOROGE EDITORIAL TEAM ELIUD OLWANDE NGAO THOMAS KENNEDY KIMANI BENJAMIN MIRANGA EDITORIAL CONSULTANT A.A. McCORKINDALE A journal of the Engineering Students Association c/o The Dean School of Engineering University of Nairobi P. O. Box 30197 Nairobi Feedback and correspondence should be addressed to the Editorial Board. Views expressed in this journal are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the association.

To advertise in The Student Engineer journal, please contact us on 0726862694 or send an email to

MESSAGE FROM

THE EDITOR IN CHIEF Felix Aringo.

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hanks to all those who continually make it possible to keep The Student Engineer a continuing series including our sponsors and consultants. I was very pleased with the responses we got from other universities and colleges.

We appreciate your responses and are working on them.

In the quest to provide the best information flow linking the industry and academia, we present to you the Mar-May 2012 issue, an issue that contains exclusive coverage of events within the Engineering Students Association, cutting edge technology and much more.

Cost of energy increases by day and industries are forced to be more efficient in their operations. Check out how this can be taken care of through automation.

If you have always wondered how the car you board is able to move back and forth, wonder no more coz it only has an engine whose working is explained herein.

It’s a house of class and power, it’s a measure of speed, it’s a beautiful work of engineering design, it’s a Mercedes S-class. You have it all inside-out on the technology section. We have an obligation to achieve industrialization by 2030 so check what the Ministry of Industrialization has in store to ensure this.

Besides all these, they say a smile not only flexes the muscles but also increases the total number of breaths per lifetime and for this reason, we have a smile section, leisure.

Finally, my heartfelt appreciation goes to Kenya Engineer for continually supporting us throughout the publication.

Thanks to Booker Omole, Samuel Eyinda and special thanks to A. A. McCorkindale.

Wishing you all a happy reading.

esaeditorial@students.uonbi.ac.ke

IN THIS ISSUE DESIGN AND LAYOUT Brian Kamau 0724 384 844

Copyright © Student Engineer 2012 Reproduction of any article in part or in full without permission from The Engineering Students Association is strictly prohibited

ESA

FEATURE

TECHNOLOGY

Dinner at Laico Regency Tour: East African Cables Talks: Numerical Machining Complex, Centurion Systems and Proceq

Autodesk Inventor Ministry of Industrialization: Investment opportunities in energy to drive Kenya’s industrialization The case for engineering advocacy Power Technics - Leading the Pack in Electrical Eng Solutions

Automation: Programmable Logic Controller PLC The Engine Automotive: Mercedes S-Class Green technology

NEWS Changing the face of Kenyan Google map Huawei Android application challenge Engineering students win affordable Homeafrika housing competition

INTERVIEW

REGULARS

Entertainment Pictorial

Dr (Eng) Karanja Kibicho, PS Ministry of Industrialization

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Student Engineer

TopicChair ESA

Message from the I

t is my pleasure to welcome you to this second issue of our quarterly magazine. In this issue, we have focused on energy management through automation. We have also extensively covered our annual ESA dinner that was held on the 30th of September at the Laico Regency.

Over the past few months, we have engaged the professionals in the engineering field. We have had experiences from the Proceq team from Switzerland on Non Destructive Testing kits through a partnership with the engineer’s chapter of the AAK. We also played host to the design engineers from the Numerical Machining Complex

Chairman ESA Chairman Chairman Thomas Owino

who did a wonderful presentation on Computer Aided Design and also showcased Autodesk products. We have as well had Dr.Kevit Desai from the Centurion Systems give an insight to the world of automation. His team also did give presentations on the programming and application of PLCs and SCADA. In this short while we also managed to visit the East African Cables factory in the industrial area as part of industrial tours.

I wish to thank the ESA editorial team through the leadership of the Editor – in – Chief, Aringo for their commitment to the production of this magazine. I also wish to thank our external patron

THE INBOX C

Eng. A. A. Mccorkindale and his team of Booker Omole and Sam Eyinda for their unwavering support.

All the above mentioned activities have been possible through the support from the ESA members. I would therefore urge the registered members to update their membership and to those who wish to join ESA, you are always free to contact our office or executive committee members at any time for guidance on membership procedures.

I finally wish you all the best as you start your second semester.

ongratulations Student Engineer for the effort you have put to bring us this issue. This is a positive move from the gap that was there previously. Keep the publication up and big up for the very informative and entertaining content.

Dickson Bwana, Mechanical Engineering, University of Nairobi

Hey editors, thanks very much for your creative work. You boost ma reading spirit when I find such fun in writing your magazine.

That was a great job UoN ESA editorial team. I must say that the article on Bugatti was particularly fascinating. Keep up.

KUDOS! At long last this magazine is back. You are back strongly and you made my semester fun when attending the thermodynamics classes and remembering the hell joke. Pliz can you give me more cartoons and invite more ladies in the school to participate.

Allan Madanga Production Eng Masinde Muliro University

Lucy J,lucyjons@gmail.com 4TH YR, Food Science and Technology University of Nairobi

Maggie magret@ymail.com 4th yr Environmental and Biosystems Eng University Of Nairobi

We are so grateful for the copies of the Student Engineer you sent us. That is a noble initiative and is worth congratulating.

McCyotto Felix Chemical Engineering Moi University

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Send you feedback via esaeditorial@students.uonbi.ac.ke

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ESA Dinner Student Engineer

ESA DINNER

Invited Guests During the Dinner

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his year the Engineering Students Association (ESA) held its dinner at the Laico Regency. The dinner which was fantastic was held on the 30th September with assistance from different stakeholders in the engineering field in the country. For most students it started just as a voyage into the joys and wonders of a five star establishment with an opportunity to silence their enormous appetites with the sumptuous cuisine served there in. But even before they got a whiff of the niceties the nicest thing about the night came into perspective through the speakers who took to floor.

It all began with the editor-in-chief of The Student Engineer journal, Felix Aringo giving a preview of the Sept-Nov issue of the journal. He thanked the various stake holders who assisted in publishing that issue including Mr. McCorkindale, Mr. Booker and Mr. Eyinda of Kenya Engineer. He then urged the students to participate in the next issue by way of writing articles and giving comments and suggestions for the betterment of the coming issues. The ESA chairman, Owino Thomas then gave a welcoming speech and talked about the association’s one year strategic plan which incorporates but not limited to career talks, career days, planned industrial and academic trips, internships and attachments and also engineering exhibitions.

Prof Patt Odira the Dean of the school of Engineering and the ESA patron then gave the introduction speech, applauded ESA for its successful activities and welcomed the guests.

- Chief Science secretary (National council for science and technology-N.C.S.T). He spoke about the role of N.C.S.T in nurturing and supporting Engineering students their resolve to help realize engineering projects and facilitate exhibitions. He also highlighted the fact that they provide scholarships to brilliant students to pursue Msc and PhD in the engineering field.

The speeches were taken with a lot of attention and enthusiasm from the eager students and on top of these there was a lot of personalized exchange between the participants. All in all it was an exchange worth looking forward to again.

The main sponsor for this occasion was Institution of Engineers of Kenya {I.E.K}, with major facilitators including Kenya Engineer {Journal of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya}, Tsavo Power Company, {A.C.E.K}, Feradon Associates, Howard Humphrey consulting company, and Intercontinental publishers. As was stated in the vote of thanks

by Sally Musonye ESA is extremely grateful for the support of the above organizations and wonderful people who assisted tirelessly including The Dean school of Engineering Prof Patt Odira and Mr. Booker not forgetting all those who in different indispensible ways made this great exchange possible and those in attendance. We look forward to more joint ventures.

Achola Kevin 5th Yr Mechanical Eng

Eng. Sam Mambo the chairman A.C.E.K and Director of Gibb International on his turn talked about partnership between the players in the industry and Engineering students, internships, field tours, engineering projects and lastly A.C.E.K’s intention to create a chapter for young Engineers. When Eng James Mwangi the honorary Secretary A.C.E.K took to the stand he reminded the students of his ESA roots giving a bit of history of where we came from being one of the pioneer ESA officials.

He also gave some insight into the country’s energy sector. Mr. Booker, the MD of Intercontinental publishers took his chance to talk about his partnership with ESA in production of student engineer-the magazine and other ESA projects like exhibitions and industrial trips.

The main speaker at the function was Mr. Harrison Macharia

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Student Engineer

Topic Talk Career

CAREERTALK

PROCEQ P

ROCEQ is a company from Switzerland that offers nondestructive concrete test equipment that enables contractors to improve their performance while lowering their costs for onsite investigations of concrete properties.

He then introduced the CEO representative Mr. Robert who gave a preview of the company and was then followed by a presentation on the testing machines including SilverSchmidt Concrete test hammer, Pundit lab ultrasonic instrument, Profoscope Rebar Detector & Covermeter and Resipod Resistivity meter. They also announced the sales release of the new SilverSchmidt ST/ PC. The original Schmidt Concrete Test Hammer has been the industry standard for a rapid assessment of the condition of a concrete structure.

cubes to historical wall segments. Now, Proceq has taken a significant step forward by launching a hammer that is even more accurate and user-friendly.

Independent testing at the renowned Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, BAM Berlin (Bundesanstalt für Material for schung und –prüfung, Germany) has confirmed that the SilverSchmidt has less dispersion than all of its predecessors over the entire compressive strength range.

CAREERTALK

The talk started with an introductory note from the Chairman of Civil Engineering Department who introduced Eng. Matalanga, the chairman of the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) student chapter who then talked about the need to have the concrete testing machines in Kenya to test the strength of buildings that come up daily.

The talk which was focused on Computer Aided Design (CAD) was held on 8th Dec, 2011 at 3.00pm.

It started with an introduction by Eng. Lang’at who gave a brief outline on Numerical Machining Complex (NMC) NMC is a locally incorporated company established in 1994 to offer specialized Mechanical Engineering services. The company uses Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) technology for high precision machining as well as Computer Aided Design (CAD).

It has a highly trained technical staff for provision of efficient engineering services, making it a trend setter in the precision engineering industry. Due to its immense wealth of experience in the manufacturing industry, NMC was appointed as an authorized reseller for Autodesk products including AutoCAD, AutoCAD Mechanical, AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor Professional.

AutoCAD is a platform product used by all professionals while Inventor is the leading 3D design software for the manufacturing industry.

Eng. Lang’at then invited Eng. Thubi

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Test objects to which this method is applied range from freshly prepared test

Visit Proceq’s website www.proceq. com or the SilverSchmidt Microsite www.silverschmidt.com to learn more about the instrument and the company.

to give the talk on CAD. Giving examples of the CAD softwares available, Eng. Thubi said that with the increasing quest for efficiency in terms of production time and cost, there is need to use the CAD softwares in design as opposed to the manual design. This, he said, increases productivity by simplifying the work of design hence reducing the time taken to manufacture components.

accessibility of the same since he was also the coordinator at the university.

“Every student is allowed to have a free student version of the software for a period of one year after which it can be renewed,” Dr. Nyang’aya said. He encouraged the students to go for the software and said that he was available in case anyone needed assistance on obtaining the same.

On the economic sense, he said that CAD softwares such as Autodesk Inventor reduce the cost of production by being able to simulate machines and parts on the computer before getting the perfect design other than correcting from the failed practical components.

At the end of it, apart from the refreshments, everyone who attended appreciated it a lot and to those who were not previously familiar with Autodesk Inventor, it gave them the thirst to learn more about it and an insight into the possibility of acquiring a free version for students.

He then gave a demo on Inventor from the initial preparation of the design environment to the simulation of designed components. He said that the university had been given 125licenses for the softwares out of which a very small number had been used. He welcomed Dr. Nyang’aya, a lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a consultant of NMC to say more about the availability and

Thanks to Numerical Machining Complex through the presenters Eng. Lang’at, Dr. Nyang’aya and Eng. Thubi and to all those who attended the talk.

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ESATopic Tour Student Engineer

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EA CABLES TRIP

ne of the heaviest punches of a field trip is the opportunity to get hands-on education. A field trip may offer the opportunity for the kind of expert information that even the most well prepared lecturer cannot afford. In addition, the ability to see and touch things that is not possible inside a classroom can bring to life concepts that remain abstract through other traditional means of learning. On top of that just never say no to a field trip lest you are out to be an engineer boring having loads of crammed formulas’ and nowhere to apply his knowledge.

On 28th October, 2011, ESA members had the opportunity to go to East African Cables. This is a premier cable manufacturer, with a footprint that spreads across East and Central Africa.

The company has four manufacturing facilities; two in Nairobi, Kenya, one in Dar es Salaam Tanzania and one in Eastern DRC. In addition, EAC is present in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan and Ethiopia, through a distribution network.

EAC manufactures an extensive range of cables for applications in domestic and Industrial lighting, as well as transmission and distribution of electricity. The company also offers Data, Telecommunication and Fiber Optic solutions with requisite accessories. Products include, Copper electrical cables and conductors for domestic as well as industrial applications - PVC and XLPE based products, Aluminum conductors and cables used for power distribution and transmission over national gridlines - AAC, ACSR and ABC Products, Telecommunication and data cables; LAN cables Fiber optic cables and other related accessories.

Members met at the departmental parking lot and got on to the bus at 1.30 pm. They headed for the EA cables headquarters along Addis Ababa Road off Enterprise Road in Industrial Area. On getting there, they were directed to the plant at Lusaka Road where they met Yvonne. After an introduction and welcoming everyone to EAC, the students were divided into

two groups headed by a guide from EAC. The processes were explained as the students moved from the pellets store through the drawing of the copper wires and the insulation to the packaging. Questions were asked and well answered and at the end of it all everyone had gained something new. There was a lot to learn from EAC but due to time constraint, they had to get back to college. Several major universities routinely conduct industrial visits as a part of their curriculum.

Industrial visits provide the opportunity to measure program effectiveness as one gets the chance to compare theory to reality. The concept of learning outcomes in Engineering is to include or improve the student’s technical ability and knowledge, ability for lifelong learning, leadership and team work ability coupled with communication skills for sustainable development . In the field, all these merge and act to produce results.

Student centered learning is where students learn from the theories while project based Learning emphasizes on the hands-on approach that real engineers use to approach and solve an engineering problem. Touring these plants give a forum to view these projects in motion who knows you may spot a problem with the current practices and provide a solution that is of benefit to both you and the firm involved.

Industrial visits provides the students and programs with “dynamic” real time feedback that is very useful in the engineering program.

It enables educational institutions to build close ties with industrial experts and to achieve the learning outcomes to students. Countries like the United States and Japan, which have a deep alliance between the academia industries, have seen a lot of development emerge from such relations. Several broader educational partnerships have emerged because of these visits. These include student’s internships, funded research projects, curriculum development, student career opportunities.

More of these visits and we may just turn our school of engineering into a brooding ground for new technologies to solve industrial problems that cripple our factories. With this comes the benefit of increased production in the country not to mention monetary rewards to the persons involved.

One of the most underestimated advantages of the field trip is inspiring careers in impressionable students.

Nothing in the classroom can capture the imagination of a young student more than seeing work in action.

A field trip can become a secret weapon for getting students interested in factories or businesses that may be hurting due to an exodus of the prior work force. A trip to nearly any locale is likely to get at least a few students considering future career potential in such fields. They broaden ones horizons.

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Student Engineer

Topic NEWS

UoN Mappers, Changing The Face Of Kenyan Google Map

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ver googled your former school, village or best meeting place in town and wondered why it did not show up in Google Maps, then you should add it or edit an existing feature about it to include what you were looking for through a simple yet so power full tool from Google, Mapmaker.

Google mapmaker is a revolutionary tool that enables people to add and update the map for locations around the world. It was introduced in June 2008 as an expansion to the breadth of the services offered by Google Maps. Before then, only 15% of people in the world had access to quality and up to date online maps of their localities. Using Map Maker, people have built out and edited the maps for 187 countries and regions around the world, and now, due to the contributions of citizen cartographers, as they call themselves, 30 percent of people have detailed online maps of the places they live. Google Map Maker users have mapped entire cities, road networks and universities that were never previously recorded online. These contributions have been incorporated into Google Maps and Google Earth, so the collective expertise of the Map Maker community benefits the millions of people using these products globally.

In December 2009, a team of former students from the Department of Geospatial and Space Technology of the University of Nairobi, who by that time worked at Google Kenya, led by Bernadette Ndege and Jeremiah Kamau trained 14 Geospatial Engineering Student Association (GESA) officials and 6 other students on how to use Google

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Mapmaker. This was in preparation for the competition that was to follow early 2010.

Out of the 20 students trained, majority of whom were final year students, only less than three students continued to map. This was mainly concentrated in their rural areas, former schools and around campus. In November 2010, one of the students had an opportunity to attend the first ever mappers conference in Africa dubbed, the Africa Super Mappers Conference 2010 held at the iHub in Nairobi. This was an exciting opportunity to meet other mappers from all over Africa and share their thoughts and experiences.

Since then, it has been no looking back as students map towns, schools, hospitals, roads and villages across Kenya and even South Sudan.

One of the biggest achievement of UoN Mappers, a group that evolved out of the training and subsequent events, was the successful participation in the Mapping competition that lasted for six weeks between August and September 2011. Each weekly winner was awarded with an IDEOS Android phone, with those having over 100 edits getting Kshs 2000 shopping vouchers and above, depending on the number of edits made within the week. This saw a very stiff competition with the target for the weekly winner rising every week. Having exhausted much of Nairobi, students were made to travel even to the far flung

towns like Machakos, Thika, Naivasha, Eldoret, Kericho, Nakuru, Nyeri and Kitale to look for new features to map in an effort to win.

At the end, the overall winner and the runner-up were awarded Samsung Galaxy S phones and also joined other Super mappers for the second Mappers Conference held at the Speke Commonwealth Resort in Munyonyo Uganda.

Currently a small group of the students are involved in mapping of Kenya’s Tourism spots like game parks and reserves, Tourism Hotels and scenic points which hopefully will further help market Kenya as a tourist destination.

Some of the possible uses of the final Google maps are for example in case of emergencies where there are no up to date official maps, making of custom maps through Google Maps API and Fusion Tables and other existing applications currently made possible.

For more, visit googlemapsmania. blogspot.com.

After the conference, more students became interested in Mapmaker, most notably Duncan Odhiambo who cloaked ten thousand edits within 100 days. Others were; Edwin Bett, Edward Mutuma and Stellamris Ogutu.

Owing to this, a second training cum mapping party was organized at the GIS Laboratory with over 50 students in attendance. The event entailed introducing new students to the mapping tool and the students who had the highest number of edits awarded Google branded products.

Leonard Ouma 5th Yr Geospatial & Space Technology.

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NEWS Topic Student Engineer

HUAWEI ANDROID

APPLICATION CHALLENGE

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niversity students with a passion for mobile application development were given an opportunity to showcase their talent at the Huawei Android Application Challenge. The challenge was an implementation of Huawei – Universities MoU to improve the learning experience.

Applications were developed in the categories of training /education/ reference, empowerment/ lifestyle and productivity/tools. The challenge saw students from the JKUAT, Moi University and University of Nairobi

compete for the top five slots. The prizes were Kshs. 50,000, Kshs. 30,000 and Kshs. 20,000 respectively for the top three apps and a Huawei S7. The fourth and fifth were awarded Kshs.

15,000 and Kshs.10,000 and a Huawei X5 each. The applications were to run on Android 1.5. Judges panel consisted of representatives from Huawei, Safaricom and the three Universities.

Presentations were done on December 5th 2011 at Crown Hotel.

Some of the notable applications

presented included: Intelligent fuel, Kazi254 and Smart Milk collection from Moi University, Zacheaus Tax Partner, Pzz@ and Playboy Buster from University of Nairobi and Bluetooth Control, Droid Stock Exchange from JKUAT. The event was a success. The next HAAC challenge will be up in 2012, bigger, better and very competitive.

Calvin Mitambo 5th Year Elec Eng

Engineering students win affordable

HomeAfrika housing competition

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hen HomeAfrika Ltd, a local real estate developer called for students in Building sciences and engineering to form consortia and express interest in designing a one million selling price house in July 2011, not many paid attention to it, not even to the USD 2500 prize money promised to the winning team. The timing was a challenge in itself since we were on long vacation. Others saw it as a pipe dream citing skyrocketing oil prices and the runaway inflation. But some wouldn’t let it go without a try…and there it was.

So it was that of the seven teams whose EOI were accepted, five were from the University of Nairobi. What’s more, the winners as announced on 18th November 2011, was a consortium called Vitruvius, a University of Nairobi team. The school of Engineering was well represented by Ben Miranga from the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Jonah Butali From the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering. The runners up had Solomon Komen from Electrical department.The other notable team was BXT design which comprised of

Zechariah Ng’ang’a and Hesbon Okari both final year students in Electrical and Civil Engineering respectively.

They emerged fourth.

The winning entry used Stabilized Soil Blocks (SSBs) for their 35m2 one bedroom house which cost exactly 1 million Kenya Shillings. Their strong points were efficient use of spaceeliminating corridors in the simplest design ever seen, green lighting, energy efficient and pocket friendly electrical design. The engineers pointed out that by ensuring that materials were economically and efficiently employed with the overall design done, the target sale price was met with some profit for the developer of course!

The BXT design consortium used Reinforced Concrete Sandwich Panels which have an Expanded Polystyrene foam core sprayed with concrete on either side. This being a technology new in Kenya, and is being pioneered by National Housing Corporation (NHC) in partnership with an Italian company.

The NHC has already built a factory in Athi River to produce the panels which will be used for production of mass housing projects. The technology is

touted to reduce building costs by up to 30% overall. Questions linger whether it can really be cheaper than traditional masonry building system bearing in mind the amount of concrete employed.

The developer hopes to actualize the project by building a mass housing scheme that could cater for the low-income segment of the people. HomeAfrika Ltd will eventually commission the winning team to execute the building of over 1000 units in the outskirts of Nairobi in the first phase of the initiative in not more than a year .Further, the consortium members will be offered internship opportunities come the end of the academic year.

Talk about earning the first fruits of engineering while in college!

Congratulations to the winners and appreciation to HomeAfrika for engaging students in shaping the future of housing in Kenya. It was an awesome experience and more students should be on the lookout for such opportunities to put their theory into practice!

Okari Hesbon 5th Year Civil Eng

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Student Engineer

Topic Engineering Advocacy

CASE FOR ENGINEERING ADVOCACY

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very long time ago, there was a white man who lived in town and went to work in the village. He was the only one with a motorbike which never ceased to amaze the villagers. They could not find a name for it so in desperation they resorted to calling it ‘the running cow’. That aside, the fellow had a helmet which the local blacksmith, never one to admit anything he cannot make told people he could easily make.

The man was at his place of work punctually at 8 a.m and left at 4p.m. He also always carried his tools of trade and used to park his motorbike under a tree with the helmet hanging from the handle bars. The villagers got this habit of coming around just to see the guy work and admire his helmet. Others said the helmet had eyes so he could see even while asleep. As the days passed, they got courageous and hatched a plan to get the blacksmith make a similar helmet which they could then use to replace the original one. They succeeded.

The white man found out one evening that his helmet was not fitting exactly as it used to. He wore it anyway and went his way. The villagers returned his original one the following day much to his relief. But they didn’t leave it at that, they kept switching the helmets hoping the fellow would notice but he never said a word.

On the other hand, the white man was a worried person.

How is it that his head kept expanding and shrinking every other day? He needed answers. So one time he planned to go and see a doctor. For three days he never reported at his place of work. The locals were a worried lot until some of them had to go to town to find out if all was well. They found his wife and asked whereupon she told them that he had gone to see a doctor because his head had lately been out of shape.

This little story’s semblance to whatever is happening in the engineering industry is anybody’s guess. Just how old were you when you figured out that the doctor is the person who injects ill children and they get well? I remember that many times I was told to stop crying otherwise they will call a doctor. Not long thereafter I began rehearsing courtroom scenes with my friends some were policemen, others were robbers and one of us was the judge.

Where was the engineer? Is it not true that some people get to find out what engineering is when they get to campus?

You chose engineering because your secondary school teachers thought you were tough in sciences and mathematics? You didn’t want to do mechanical engineering because you thought you were not ready to be a mechanic?

Engineers have been and continue to be like the white man in the little story- they want people to be amazed at what they do. Ever too selfish to explain to the man in the street that even the tallest skyscraper is but a system of simple beams, slabs and columns with huge factors of safety applied to the loads and soil bearing pressures! They get offended when clients ask why you want so much money for doing ‘just a drawing that anybody can draw’. Don’t our parents who are paying so much for us to be here opt to use the local fundi to build storied buildings instead of engaging a professional engineer?

It is time we dropped our pride and engaged the public in our work. Be kind enough to explain why we prefer hydropower to solar, why use timber instead of steel. Explain

that using stabilized soil blocks reduces carbon footprints by reducing amount of cement used. Stand up to the rumour mongers and explain that the presence of Chinese contractors in town has little to do with our competence being in question! We need more engineers in politics, we need more engineers as newsmakers by the sheer feats we’ve accomplished! We most definitely need to contribute columns to daily newspapers so as to enlighten the public on why they need engineers as much as they do use doctors or lawyers.

Then and only then will they stop using quarks to bury their life savings in collapsing buildings. How else do you explain it when a person invests tens of millions of Shillings in a building project but finds it difficult to use just a fraction of it to hire a professional engineer?

I am convinced that part of the reason is ignorance. Ignorance is expensive for any society.

If leadership entails working for the benefit of the society, the definition of the engineer as ‘that person who by virtue of his knowledge and skills is tasked with harnessing the resources of nature for the benefit of the society’ points to where the buck stops. Make your engineering scholarship personal in as much as leadership is personal too. Feel the responsibility!

Demystify the profession and serve society. If only the White man in the story had engaged the villagers!

Okari Hesbon, 5th Yr Civil Engineering

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My Career , My profession Topic Student Engineer

MY CAREER, MY PROFESSION

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ngineering elements are fundamental, training is elemental. “We meet in institutions of knowledge, cities noted for progress, states noted for strength yet we stand in need of all the three for we meet in hours of change and challenge, in decades of hope and fear ages of knowledge and ignorance. The greater our knowledge increases, the greater our ignorance unfolds....” says John F. Kennedy.

As our responsibilities grow to better our esteemed professions, our human consciousness slips to the unknown. “Anything can happen, after all this is Kenya,” these among others are the common phrases that drop in our conversations once in a while. We forget that this is our Kenya and life is not just something that can be taken away anytime and especially never due to carelessness and ignorance. More often than not, we fail due to our lack of knowledge and ignorance.

This has led to many misfortunes like buildings collapsing while under construction resulting to loss of lives, fear, stress and stigma amongst participants in projects and engineering works that we no longer proudly associate with. There is need for stakeholders to architect a scheme of how best to incorporate professionals into national development road maps. This aids in the realization of visions, conservation and sustainable upgrading for continuous technological reconciliations.

It is important to always understand that the quality of an engineer is not in the number of problems we solve but in the number of problems that do not occur while we are in position. This comes in the wake of recent events witnessed in Lang’ata and Pipeline resulting into death and injuries to the workers and unhealed wounds to their families, friends and the state. It is a blanket of condemnation that subverts the essence of the new constitution in its jurisdiction and the right to life is by no means applicable to a few but all. Kenya’s development questions lie in the innovative capacity of our engineers. Confirmation of outsiders in our projects, as has been the norm, is proof on the confidence crisis suffered by the professionals that are involved in the audit of buildings in urban areas to determine their ‘structural integrity’. The team comprises of registered architects, civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, environmental experts and surveyors.

We have the capability to produce the best even within our own institutions of higher learning. Our key values should be high moral character, integrity and impartiality. It is in this mind that our dreams, our visions and our aspirations will be met as an emerging economy and a country with enterprising engineers. The million dollar theme amongst all engineers and by extension professionals of good will is, always, OUR RESPONSIBILITY. Sally Musonye.

3rd Electrical Engineering.

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN ENERGY TO

A

cting Industrialization Minister Jeffa Kingi has called upon the private sector to consider investing in energy generation especially in the development of geothermal and wind energy resources which are abundant in the country.

He said the government has put in place the necessary policies to encourage and facilitate the private sector to invest in the development of energy resources through the Public, Private Partnerships.

He was speaking when he addressed invited guests during this year’s Africa Industrialization day celebrations held at the KICC yesterday. He noted that the total energy requirement for the country to meet its vision 2030 programs is between 40,000 and 50,000 megawatts.

According to available statistics the minister said, approx. 1.4 billion people have no electricity while 2.7 billion have no modern energy for cooking worldwide.

“The 2.7 billion people mostly in developing countries rely on traditional biomass for their cooking.

Approximately 600 million people in Africa still live without access to affordable and sustainable modern energy,” the minister said.

Hon. Kingi said that as the country is focused in the implementation of Vision 2030 flagship projects in its quest to transform into an industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality life to all its citizens.

The manufacturing sector is expected to play a critical role in propelling the economy at 10 per cent growth rate, and in supporting the country’s social development agenda through the creation of jobs, the generation of foreign exchange, and attracting foreign direct investment, the minister added.

“The Vision therefore requires the manufacturing sector to transform itself into an efficient, modern and exportoriented entity with strong forward and

backward linkages” he said.

Addressing the gathering, Industrialization PS Dr. Eng Karanja Kibicho said the Ministry has developed a National Industrialization Policy framework that has identified 22 subsectors for promotion which will drive the country towards becoming a newly Industrializing, globally competitive, middle income and prosperous nation with a high quality of life by 2030.

Under the chapter on foundational pillars and enablers, the PS expounded, the policy has identified energy as key to industrial development. Inadequate and unreliable supply of electricity; and high power tariffs amongst other energy inhibitors, has significantly contributed to the high cost of doing business in Kenya thereby affecting the competitiveness of manufactured goods, Dr Kibicho said.

Teresia Yulu Acting head of the public communications office, Ministry of Industrialization

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Student Engineer

Power Technics

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Power Technics Student Engineer

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Student Engineer

Topic Interview

Dr (Eng) Karanja Kibicho Permanent Secretary Ministry of Industrialization By: Felix Aringo & Ngao Thomas

K: The direction that the Ministry of Industrialization has taken and the time that I have been here says the kind of a person I am. This is also evident from the changes that took place during my previous work at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology where I was also a head of Mechanical Engineering department.

We walk through the entrance of the Ministry of Industriali-

zation at Teleposta Towers and as has become a routine in any office building, we are checked and after writing down our names and nature of visit, we proceed to the lift. In silence we ascend and proceed to the reception desk where we are welcomed by a security officer and taken to the waiting room where we calmly wait wondering how transformed governance in Kenya had become that you could feel a sense of security and comfort in a government building as opposed to some time back when you could be filled with fear once you stepped into the gate.

The level of commitment of everyone to his/her work was evident as we looked into the open offices and this was very wonderful as I quickly thought of Industrialization by the year 2030 and saw a very big possibility in its achievement if this was the kind of commitment showed by every stake holder.

There was a sense of order and determination at work and if this is the case in every other Ministry then not even Vision 2030 can be an impossible achievement. We sat and waited for the time of appointment before we were ushered in to meet the Doctor Engineer.

I am simple, I stand for the idea of defining the problem in simple terms, not putting jargons and getting solutions that are local and that is why the projects that the ministry is undertaking e.g. the CIDC look possible. For example, we say what we want is to create jobs and jobs can only be created if the SMEs sector is working and the only way to make it work is to provide market for what they produce. Most of us try to load issues with a lot of jargon then a simple problem cannot get a simple answer.

I am assisted more by my primary training serving as a don for 17yrs where you have to make the students understand so if you try to show how little they are then you get resistance.

K: The PS’s office is the technical link between the technocrats and the political level. Being in the middle where at one time you are supposed to take care of policies and political interests and also on the other hand you are the implementer of these policies.

He holds a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, a Masters of Science (MSc) degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Mechanical Engineering. He has attended various short courses in management, leadership and capacity development skills and other short courses in Public procurement and Disposal regulations, implementation of ISO 9001:2008 among many others.

A PS is responsible for all the finances and is the CEO so to speak, so he takes care of finances and other resources but fortunately he is supported in all areas e.g. technical and therefore the PS’ job is to give guidance to technical people and also to provide leadership so that policies that are not created can be created that address pertinent issues that face the ministry.

He has taught various institutions of higher learning in Kenya and outside including JKUAT, University of Dares Salaam, Central University of Technology, Free State, SA and University of Cape Town. He has published over 20 peer refereed papers in engineering journals and conference proceedings besides supervising many engineering projects at BSc, MSc and PhD levels. Dr Kibicho has served as a management trainee in the KTDA, production engineer at Auto-Springs Manufacturers and participated in various GoK Taskforces.

For a ministry like ours, you would not know how to define it because when you have maize produced and you are milling it where is the line dividing the activities of Ministry of Agriculture and Industrialization so you find that if you are to go by definition then all parastatals that are involved in value addition or any processing would fall under the Ministry of Industrialization. The Ministry, therefore, mainly takes care of parastatals and provides the enabling environment for the industry to function and these will be parastatals that deal

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Interview Topic Student Engineer with Intellectual Protection, Standards, Micro financing etc.

Being in charge of all these therefore, a PS wakes up at 4am and if lucky sleeps at 11pm.

K: Innovativeness is killed usually because nobody picks it up. I am very happy about the Fablab, University of Nairobi that picks people who are not necessary graduates and tries to get the best out of them. That assures even those who did not get grade A to go the University and they still have a chance of being creative. As a Ministry we have a parastatal called Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) that takes care of such innovative people by protecting their intellectual property.

We, therefore, need a lot of support and a lot of change of mindset like you do not have to be employed by Microsoft to do software. We are ordering from Fablab a number of quality check equipment developed from there, both hardware and software. We want the young people to know that there is hope in this country and there can only be hope if we concentrate on manufacturing and this is what the Ministry of Industrialization is doing.

K: Training of engineers in this country is so bad because out of 40million we only have about 6,000engineers and this means that every engineer serves 6,600people while if you go to countries like China an engineer serves 130people and you can see their industrial development. This is because you cannot divorce these two issues. As a Ministry we are therefore keen on what our universities are doing to make sure that by the year 2030 they will deliver to us at least 30,000engineers in all the fields.

Then expand e.g. to software engineering, medical engineering, etc. If we narrow it and narrow our people then the young people as they grow will not have the whole world to stretch their imagination.

K: Two things, one is the training of engineers in the country and the second one is energy. In this country we have about 1400MW and China has one billion in megawatts with a per capita production of about 700watts while in Kenya it is 33watts so the difference is evident because there can be no industrialization without energy. Industrialization involves running motors and these motors require energy to run.

When we talk about the flagship projects of vision 2030 and 10,000 multinational companies or even techno cities what does it mean in terms of energy demand? When the energy is therefore not industrial driven, then we miss the mark.

K: We have identified key areas that we think if there is intervention then we are able to take off. In each of them, we

develop an implementation master plan that will help us realize the take off.

In this country we are lucky to have 10,000MW of geothermal and there is even a Geothermal Development Corporation to help exploit that resource. We also have 12,000MW of hydro power. We have also identified other areas including nuclear to help deal with these challenges.

K: Like I said, the number is 1:6000. For the simplistic mind, it has been argued that, “Why do you want to train more engineers when even the ones you have do not have jobs? They do not have jobs because we have not created an environment that attracts investment in this country. Anybody would run to China because of availability of engineers, cheap energy, good infrastructure and that is what we need to create.

The engineer is the driver of industrialization so basically anybody else in the industrial sector is supporting the engineer because this is the key person in the industrialization of any country and therefore if I had my way in the next few years we would have heavy intake of engineers. When we get them then the investor knows there is trained manpower in the country. We deal with energy and he knows there is cheap energy in Kenya, then they will come and more engineers will be absorbed.

The engineer must also open up to know that he himself can be a job creator and does not have to be employed in a multinational factory as the only solution.

K: The student engineer must know that shortly after you leave, you will require to practice engineering and when you interact with the industry as a student you are handled with care but when you leave it is different so what the student engineer should fight for is that before leaving the university you should have had real interaction with the industry as that will help you flow very easily into the industry once you complete.

Do not worry too much about the hard Mathematics, Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics because when you come out there is solution to real life problems so as you do them you should also be looking on the other side to know how the Thermodynamics is applicable to real life situations and how to use it to solve real problems in the country. Otherwise, without doing that what the student engineer will have is a lot of Fluid mechanics and Thermodynamics that helps no one.

Do not loose heart, there is hope in this country and we are doing all that we can to find an environment that can absorb you.

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Student Engineer

Topic Viscar

VISCAR EMPOWERING ENGINEERING STUDENTS

T

The Viscar graduate training program has been in existence and making a difference in engineering practice for three years now. It begun in March 2009 with a class of seven students and since then has grown to graduate over 80 students with Evidently, there is a lot to be said about training majority moving on to successful employment at and improvement and immense value to be added various organizations. The testimonials from their from the process. VISCAR Industrial Capacity Ltd employers have been positive hence attesting to is in the business of human resource improvement the need for such a program. with special focus on the engineering sector. Viscar The Graduate Training Program focuses on specializes in training and gives consultancy services to players in the telecommunication and graduates with Engineering degrees or diplomas manufacturing industry. Viscar prides itself in un- and empowers them with technical, managerial, paralleled expertise and a pool of highly skilled, leadership and business skills.This combination qualified and dedicated professionals in their fields that enables them to lay solid foundations for their and therefore guarantees total peace of mind when careers and also gives them the correct entry level technical skills required by the industry. Besides it comes to Training and Consultancy services. technical skills building the program also focuses on building character and personality as mentorship and coaching is offered to every participant. here is nothing training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach. It can turn bad morals to good; it can destroy bad principles and recreate good ones; it can lift men to angelship.

-Mark Twain.

There is nothing training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.

-Mark Twain.

“Two programmes have already been rolled out, for the telecom industry and the manufacturing industry. We are also developing programs for other industries including energy, IT and building and construction industries,� shares Eng. Mulongo, the Managing Director.

WHY VISCAR?

The graduates from this program get to interact one on one with lead experts in the fields and have Engineering as a profession in Kenya lacks access to equipment and material to practice what a well laid down standard incubation program theory they have learnt in class. To top it up, Viscar for students who have completed their studies. ensures practical are applied in real scenarios and Consequently the return on investment on training ensures at least 3 months industrial internship for Engineering students both at the Polytechnics and students.

Universities is not fully realized. The industry also suffers in that it is not able to get students with a This program provides corporate with an opporsolid engineering foundation to spur their growth.

It is against this background that Viscar developed tunity to lower the cost of absorbing new graduan Engineering graduates training program (GTP). ates. It either reduces the amount of time firms

A BOON FOR THE INDUSTRY

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Viscar Topic Student Engineer devote to their own internal induction training programs or eliminates their need completely. Firms’ sponsoring students for this program are equally entitled to re-imbursement from DIT (Directorate of industrial training) as long as they are compliant with DIT regulations.

(Btech Electrical & comm.)- Moi University, Currently working at KPLC

……... The quality of the training and mentorship offered by Viscar has enabled me to expand my technical concepts and better integrate both technical and management Any successful venture requires partnerships. concepts.

We hope to reaffirm our corporate relationships and our partnerships with universities to be able (Btech Computer engineering)-Moi University to take the graduate training program to the Currently working at Huawei next level. There are extensive plans to partner with engineering registration board and IEK to ….the program in Telecommunications was a standardize the GTP program. great opportunity for me to get acquainted with the world of Mobile networks, Mobile networks planning, intelligent networks value added …..Viscar has really helped me in my career services (INVAS). growth. It helped bridge the gap and opened my eyes and mind to have a totally different and Btech Electrical & comm)-Masinde Muliro informed view of what I want in terms of my career.

Currently working at Nokia Siemens Now, I know that Telecommunications is where my heart is!

ACCREDITATION

Testimonials from alumni

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Student Engineer

W

Topic Mechanical Engineering

THE ENGINE

e all move from one point to another at some time. Apart from the wilder beast, man is one most mobile animal. We have legs but they can only take us so far, thanks to the constant advancement in transport engineering we have other modes to move. However, with these modes being ever more common, do we ever stop to look beyond the steering wheel past the dashboard? How many ever wonder where the acceleration pedals lead? Or what the steering wheel is connected to, better still how do the wheels get to rotate that fast? Yeah, you may be thinking, so long as you are able to get from home to school or work, and armed with your mechanic’s number you could leave the rest to the engineers.

Well, you could even be thinking, electrical energy powers a motor that rotates the wheel‌ Possible, yes, even Makerere University has had a short at electric cars but no.

At least just not yet, electric cars are still at research and development stage a normal car has an internal combustion engine. The other available option is the hybrid of electric motor and an IC engine like the Prius .When you look into the engine bay, it may look like a big confusing jumble of metal, tubes and wires. The engine is the power horse whose work is to convert heat produced by burning petrol or diesel into mechanical energy that turns the wheels. Engines are classified as internal or external according to mode of combustion or application e.g. reciprocating, rotary etc. a car engine is an internal combustion engine, i.e. combustion takes place internally. A steam engine in old-fashioned train or steamboat is the best example of an external

combustion engine. The fuel in a steam engine burns outside the engine to create steam under pressure, which in turn creates motion inside the engine. Internal combustion is a lot more efficient than external combustion, and an internal combustion engine is a lot smaller than an equivalent external combustion engine. This explains the propensity of General Motors to avoid steam engines.

Ignition process starts when the keys are turned; they complete an electrical starter motor circuit that turns the crankshaft using the power from the battery. As the crankshaft turns, the pistons begin to move up and down in a predetermined pattern by virtue of the shape of the crankshaft. As the crankshaft turns, it also turns a camshaft that via a pushrod opens the valve to allow fuel in through the inlet manifold. As the piston rises again, the valve closes so the petrol/air mixture is compressed. Another camshaft connected to the distributor meanwhile, opens and closes electrical contacts called points, which create electrical impulses, which amplify the volts from the battery via the coil. This very high voltage passes through the rotor arm to electrical contacts in the distributor cap and by high-tension cables to the spark plug. The plug sparks at precisely the correct moment and ignites the fuel. The piston moves down and it turns the crankshaft with power from the fuel. The starter motor disengages completing the ignition process Engines are operated on different kinds of fuels whose characteristics may have considerable influence on the design, output, efficiency, fuel consumption and even the

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Mechanical Engineering Topic Student Engineer reliability and durability of the engine. For the petrol engine, petrol and air get mixed in the carburetor then injected into the combustion chamber. Modern engines, however, use electronic fuel injection-EFI in place of carburetors. This helps reduce the number of wearing parts, prevent surging when tilted, provide constant petrol/air mixture to various cylinders and prevent loss of volumetric efficiency due to throttle valves, inlet pipe and bends. The petrol/air mixture is compressed by the piston for ignition by the spark plug. As the mixture burns, it expands (explodes) and the force of that explosion forces the piston downwards..The piston transmits the combustion generated gas pressure to the crank pins via the connecting rod.

The crankshaft rotates at the rate of between 500 to 8,000 RPM and this causes valves to open, spark plug impulses and pistons motion. This leads to a lot of friction on these surfaces generating a lot of heat that could melt the engine.

Thanks to the cooling system around it and the oil lubricants.

Water circulates and absorbs the heat from the metal and returns to the radiator where it cools for recirculation.

This is how the car is able to move by converting chemical energy from the fuel through combustion to rotary motion in the flywheel and finally linear motion on the road.

Felix Aringo 5th Yr Mech Eng

As the piston moves up again, the camshaft, helps open the exhaust valve to force burnt fuel out of the chamber into the exhaust manifold and away down the exhaust pipe.

The piston then moves down again sucking in fuel and the cycle begins again. For a four-stroke engine, four stages are involved. In the first (Induction) stroke, the piston sucks the fuel, second (compression) stroke, piston compresses it, third (power) stroke, it is ignited and the piston is forced down and in the fourth and final stroke (exhaust stroke), the piston pushes out the exhaust gases. The camshaft ensures the timely opening and closing of the valves during these strokes. The inlet valve opens as the piston sucks-induction stroke while fuel gushes in from the fuel injection system into the engine cylinder towards the end of the compression stroke just before the start of combustion.

The piston connects to a crankshaft so when it moves down it turns the crankshaft that rotates the flywheel from which the clutch transfers motion to the gearbox. Depending on the design and configuration of the vehicle, motion passes through the gear trains in the gearbox to the front or the back wheels for motion.

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Student Engineer

Topic Geospatial Engineering

SATELLITE BASED

AUGMENTATION SYSTEM S

atellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) are satellite systems developed to compliment data received from the existing GNSS systems. GNSS receivers determine location by using timing and positioning data received from satellites in the space. The USA’s NAVSTAR, Global Positioning System (GPS) and Russia’s, Global’naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS) are examples of GNSS; we will have another one by 2015 when Europe’s GALILEO is launched. The three systems will be interoperable and this will enable development of a single solution that can work with GALILEO, GPS and GLONASS. The SBAS is based on the broadcasting of differential corrections for navigation satellites that are inter visible in a network of base reference stations established in a region.

SBAS signals are broadcast through geostationary satellites to enable continuous view of the ground.

would be acquired by using data directly from any GNSS Satellites.

WHY SBAS: SBAS improve the performance of GNSS and this is assessed according to the following: ACCURACY: the difference between the measured and real position velocity and time of the receiver INTEGRITY: capacity to provide warnings in the event that anomalies occur in the broadcast positioning data such as signal providing misleading data that could be hazardous CONTINUITY: the system ability malfunctioning and interruption

to

work

without

Various regions have implemented their own satellite-based augmentation system.

AVAILABILITY: availability of signals for accurate positioning and integrity

Europe has the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), USA has Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), and Japan is covered by its Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) while India has GPS And GEO Augmentation Navigation (GAGAN)

The SBAS system has found numerous application owing to its ability provide accurate positioning data and integrity these include ,Precision farming, safety flight navigation and landing, Maritime navigation through Vessel Traffic Services(VTS), Mobile applications ,Provision of ground control stations among many more

The systems are composed of multiple ground base reference Stations, Network Control Centre and geostationary satellite for broadcasting the corrected GPS data to end user with GPS receivers located at precisely surveyed known points.

Their principle of operation is quite simple The Base stations receive satellite data information from multiple GNSS satellite, transmit these GPS corrections to the network control centre for integrity checking and reliability, the control centre then uplinks the signals to a geostationary satellite which in turn sends GPS corrections to users with GPS receivers .the data received by GPS receivers is by far accurate, Precise And reliable than the position data that

The use of SBAS has provided huge platform for development in our country and region at large , we need to establish our SBAS system which will facilitate establishment of a network of geodetic controls in the entire region, this will facility development projects such provision of roads controls railways, precise Industrial development and deformation monitoring. Therefore I urge scholars to champion the use of GPS technology In all industrial sectors for easy, attainable and sustainable economic development Mutuma Edward Mwiti Geospatial Engineering

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Civil Engineering Topic Student Engineer

COLLAPSING BUILDINGS

Yes, it is clear everyone must own a house or an apartment in the city….but do I say. The real estate developers are clearly in business but are they doing it in the right way? In the recent past across East Africa, there are many reports of collapsed buildings. It does not take one to cross Harry Thuku road to give us the real picture but from the onset one can admit ….we are in a hurry not to a better future but to our graves.

Some of the good Kenyan engineers have always tried to warn people in advance but they are always ignored. It is even amazing that when the authorities give orders for people to leave the residence and go to the safe houses some politicians come and incite. This issue is indeed destroying the reputation of the Kenyan engineers and thus some are branded ‘KWACKS’! Rushed building projects are leading to collapsed buildings that are slowly killing the very builders that are building these projects. People are so eager to make money that quality is not an issue. This solidifies our former point that in this consumerist world, quality is not an issue but quantity because quantity brings money very fast. Yet it brings death and destruction too. As the number of casualties in the construction industry increases so does the nails in the coffin of the image of the industry.

It is a sad but valid fact that buildings despite being constructed with health and safety measures taken into account still fail and/ or collapse. The reason for this can be divided into six categories namely:

Bad / poor design Faulty construction Failure of foundations Existence of extraordinary loads Unexpected modes of failure Combination of causes Geotechnical issues Bad / poor design would refer to causes of failure that are caused by an error in miscalculation of the loads or unrealistic designs that calculation and appropriation of loads is too borderline to accommodate thus resulting in poor load distribution that ends up in structures failing. This is solely the responsibility of the designers.

Faulty construction covers poor methods of construction; these include the use of inferior materials like the use of salty sand for concrete or the use of inferior steel or the reduction on the amount of reinforcement as recommended by the engineers.

No matter how strong and well built a building is it will not stand firm without a firm foundation. Failure of foundations is therefore

another cause for the collapse of buildings. We have examples like “The leaning Tower of Pisa” and the Old Armoury at St. Paul Minnesota that sank approximately 20 m due to this. With foundation failure, the whole building may not fail but there may be sinking, leaning, due to disproportionate settling or sinking of the whole building as a unit.

Failure of a building due to the presence of extraordinary loads refers to the loads that are often natural.

These loads include loads by shaking due to earthquakes or severe earth tremors, strong winds like those experienced during hurricanes or typhoons, repeated heavy loads like those caused by heavy snowfall and the like.

Unexpected modes of failure are yet another reason why buildings do fail. This is the hardest category to deal with as it is indeed unexpected. For any structure constructed, one there are properties that are unique and affect it in its own way. Until all these properties are assessed and understood they remain unexpected and fall under the unexpected failure modes if they do lead to the failure of the structure. Finally a building could collapse due to more than one of the above reasons hence a combination of causes.

A number of reasons have been given to explain why these buildings are collapsing and these include reasons like the concrete mix ratio was not right, there was not enough planking and strutting in place to uphold excavations in place, the column spacing was too wide, the reinforcement was not adequate, the slenderness ratio was too high, the contractor was cost cutting by changing recommended concrete mix or reducing the amount of reinforcement recommended, addition of illegal structures to approved plans and a multitude of other reasons are amongst are what is fronted for these collapses.

All the above reasons do nothing to endear the construction industry to the public. They only spell of negligence, lack of supervision, not adhering to recommended and approved plans and specifications. This ultimately reeks of a general lack of seriousness in the industry for first of all allowing such practices to occur in the first place and then, for continuing to let them happen.

Let’s wake up Kenya The construction industry in Kenya had better take this as the opportunity to clean up their act. There is a lot of misconduct going on in the industry, particularly on the construction sites themselves.

There is a blatant disregard for health and safety, a marked lack of supervision, site inspections and approvals are a routine go ahead with no emphasis being given to the quality of work produced, there is construction that is going on without signboards erected with names of involved parties and stickers from the respective boards to show that the involved parties belong to the respective associations and therefore should be responsible and competent professionals in their field.

Furthermore the supervisors, the municipal councils, the ministry officials, the contractors, the consultants, the workers, the clients and everyone else involved in any construction related activity should wake up and take matters seriously. Make sure that they follow the recommended practices; do their jobs with due diligence and meet the required standards set by the respective bodies of authority in the industry.

Eliud Olwande 5th yr Biosystems Eng.

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Student Engineer

Topic Biosystem Engineering

WATER RESOURCE CONFLICT IN AFRICA

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Electrical Engineering Topic Student Engineer

PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER (PLC) This program notation was chosen to reduce training demands for the existing technicians. Other early PLCs used a form of ‘instruction list/statement list’ programming based on stack based logic solver.

Several developments in the PLCs have incorporated other programming languages such as function block diagrams (FBD), C and structured text all that can be interchanged in a program at will. The programming devices have also increased over time from the initial special purpose programming terminals which had dedicated function keys to representing the various elements of a PLCprograms to personal computers and hand held programmers. The use of PC is the most commonly used where the PLC connection is done through the Ethernet, RS-232 or RS-485.

You might have seen the Coca Cola or EABL packaging plant or handled a highly automated Mercedes Benz sedan but not known the controller that handles the processes. Well, all this is handled in the field of control engineering which has evolved over time. In the past, humans were the main method of controlling a system. More recently, electricity has been used for control and early electrical control was based on relays. These relays allow power to be switched on and off without a mechanical switch. However, recent developments in the field of automation have resulted in the development of highly computerised controllers known as PLCs which is employed in the above examples.

A programmable logic controller (famously known as PLC) is a digital computer used for automation of electromechanical processes such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement rides or light fixtures. Unlike general purpose computers, PLCs are designed for multiple inputs and outputs arrangements. PLCs are also famous for several design parameters such as their ability to withstand vibrations and impact, extended temperature and humidity ranges and their immunity to electrical noise.

PLC development dates back to 1968 when GM Hydramatic (the transmission division of General Motors) issued a request for proposal for an electronic replacement for hardwired relay system.The winning proposal came from Bedford Associates and eventually the first PLCs were installed in industry in 1969. Dick Morley who worked in this initial project is considered to be the ‘father’ of PLC. PLC development has been taken up by many more companies such as Siemens through its Simatic brand, Schneider Electric through its Telemechanique brand, Mitsubishi, ABB and Omron among many other companies.

The initial PLC was programmed in ‘ladder logic’ which strongly resembles the schematic diagram of relay logic.

The PLC hardware has the Processing unit (CPU), Memory, Input/Output, Power supply unit, Programming device and other devices. The CPU is microprocessor based and may allow arithmetic operations, logic operators, block memory moves, computer interface and local area network functionsamong many others. The system ROM gives permanent storage for the operating system and the fixed data used by the CPU. The RAM stores information on the status of input and output devices and the values of timers and counters and other internal devices. On the other hand, inputs monitor field devices, such as switches and sensors whereas the outputs control other devices, such as motors, pumps, solenoid valves, and lights. Most PLC controllers work either at 24 VDC or 220 VAC. Some PLC controllers have electrical supply as a separate module, while small and medium series already contain the supply module.

There future of PLCs is for sure bright with the developments enabling the networking of various PLCs in a complex system.

You can for sure go out there and get more on PLCs and even learn the programming techniques and t ro u bl e s h o o t i n g approaches to fit in the environment of automation.

Owino T. Akelo 5th yr Electrical Eng

Siemens Simatic S7-300

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Student Engineer

Topic Technology

Automotive Engineering s-class

T

his is a sequel to the last article on the exquisite engineering fete that is the Bugatti Veyron you may never see. This time we look at a timeless symbol of sophistication and success that you cannot avoid seeing. It is said that if you want to look into the feature of the automotive industry you need to look no further than the Mercedes S class.

So please bear with me as I investigate where this car gets so much sex appeal from since some call it sexy. While some are merely pleased by the aesthetics of this machine I for what it’s worth say beauty is skin deep. Considering the current ones majorly the AMG S 63 and 65 unveiled in 2009 Shanghai motor show with a chassis code W221. S 63 AMG has Mercedes-Benz M156 V8 engine rated 525 PS S63 AMG comes in supple German Leather, coming in the standard leather, or diamond texture, with black and chrome trim on the dash and center console (front and back row). The S63 comes with a variety of luxury features, including but not limited to; dual-zone automatic climate control, rear-seat DVD entertainment, built-in navigation, a heated and cooled front and rear seats that can massage your rear as you drive along suggesting that people who own these machines like being touched in specific places ways in certain ways. These are just a few of the many interior gadgets you get. In 2009, the engines had reduced fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 3%. Styling changes include arrow-shaped radiator grille, AMG-specific daytime running lights, two transverse air outlets on each side, “6.3 AMG” lettering on the front wings, redesigned exterior mirrors, 52-LED tail lights. Active Body Control provides crosswind stabilization as standard equipment. Torque Vectoring Brake is added. Interior include PASSION leather upholstery.

S 65 AMG includes Mercedes-Benz M275 V12 engine restyled front and rear bumpers and rocker panels, larger wheels, brakes, and tires, four exhaust pipes, modified and reprogrammed as the world’s most powerful production sedan before brabus got a hold of the engine increased the cylinder to6.3 litres, fitted a new crankshaft, camshaft ,cylinder heads ,air intake ,exhaust ,turbochargers ,quad

intercoolers and bigger piston after re mapping the electronic control unit they got a whooping 788 bhp resulting in Brabus SV12 R Biturbo 800 top speed electronically limited to 350km/h!.The S65 has a 0–60 mph (97 km/h) time of 4.2 (conservative MB estimate) and an owner tested time of 3.8 seconds and could reach 100 mph (160 km/h) under 9.0 seconds. Furthermore if you are a thrill seeker and a junkie for power a simple software upgrade pushes the motor to a staggering 740 hp and well over 850 ft/lbs.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a series of luxury sedans produced by Mercedes-Benz, a division of Daimler AG. The classification was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116 S-Class, which succeeded previous MercedesBenz models dating to the mid-1950s. As the flagship of the Mercedes-Benz lineup, the S-Class has debuted many of the company’s latest innovations, including drivetrain technologies, electronic controlled antilock brake system, electronic fuel injection, interior features, and safety systems (such as the first seatbelt pretensioners).these cutting edge technologies always make appearances on the S-class years before worming their way to the rest of the society, say the EFI system ,Mercedes first applied it in the fifties it’s just becoming a standard on Toyotas now for the past fifty years less fortunate humans have been stuck with carburetors. The S-Class has ranked as the world’s bestselling luxury flagship sedan, and its latest generation, the W221 S-Class, premiered in 2006 as an all-new design. As in previous iterations, the W221 S-Class is sold in standardand long-wheelbase versions; V6, V8, V12, diesel and hybrid powertrains are offered.

The name “S-Class” derives from the German word “Sonderklasse” of which “S-Class” is an abbreviation.

Sonderklasse means “special class”, and in automotive terms thus refers to “a specially outfitted car.” Although used colloquially for decades, following its official application in 1972, five generations of officially named S-Class sedans have been produced and its not hard to see why.

New technological features on the W221 include an infrared Night View Assist feature and the latest MercedesBenz pre-collision system. Computer controlled air

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Technology Topic Student Engineer suspension keeps the car firm and level .The brake system continue becoming more advanced with the new Brake Assist Plus system monitoring for an impending collision and increase braking if needed. while the Distronic Plus radar guided cruise control can now bring the car to a complete stop, it warns and assists the driver as well as providing emergency braking. With all these technological improvements the politician could pull up with his S65 on the highway set His speed behind a car in his motorcade and get down to other things say a slow and gentle massage while enjoying a movie on the DVD surround system. The car will know when to accelerate, slow down and take a corner all this time no active driver input only relying on the car ahead, its cruise control and the satellite navigation system.

So then while others come to this car to indulge themselves I see it differently not as a glimpse of what might appear in a future Toyota but what the engineers can achieve if they set their minds to it. Imagine if the civil engineers gave us proper roads. The survey engineers gave us a way to coordinate vehicles on the roads using Global positioning system and satellite navigation, and all cars had the systems like in the S-class accidents would take a nose dive. Human

error would be eliminated and precision motoring would be born.

If history is any indication, in 50 years the 2012 S Class will be called a classic. How it gets there will be even more revealing. What makes it so well-prepared for the test of time is that it starts out so far ahead of its time — not merely in its design, but in the engineering within. Consider its lineage: The grand Mercedes-Benz 300 S offered fuel injection in 1957. The mighty 300 SEL of the 1960s came with dualcircuit brakes and a safety-cage body. And from the 1970s into the 21st century, the S Class debuted breakthroughs ranging from standard air bags to active cruise control to pushbutton keyless starting — all in trendsetting style. In each generation, what began as something startlingly new grew to be cherished for its enduring appeal and its influence on every car that followed. With countless innovations in place behind its iconic chrome grille, S class continues to predict what other automobiles might someday become — and what we’ll treasure from today. I wish I could say the same of Kenyan engineers.

Achola Kevin 5th yr Mechanical Eng

BRAIN DRAIN FROM WITHIN!

M

any a times we tend to forget the processes that occurred before the final result in more than enough activities that we indulge in and the numerous achievements we bestow our heroes. Take for instance our athletes; once they clinch medals in the international competitions like Olympics and all the flashy races they compete all over the world, they come back home to a rosy welcome with high profile delegates and snaking convoys to meet them at the airport. Less than 1% of the media frenzy gives the forgotten brains behind the triumph negligible airtime. The coach is never given the approval and pomp that he deserves in the entire media circus that happens.

Bringing it back home, every year our local universities pour in more than a thousand graduate engineers into our very slowly expanding economy and job market. The ratio of graduate engineers to available job opportunities is like that of rivets to passengers on an Airbus A320 jet! This practically means most of the work put in by universities in training to produce quality engineers is all for nothing and a serious brain drain continues brewing within our borders. Many extremely well trained and qualified graduate engineers end up in fields totally unrelated to engineering due to this very problem. Haven’t we all heard of bank managers, directors of pharmaceutical companies, credit control managers of financial institutions, just but to mention a few, being engineers by profession? The other side of the coin tells me an Engineer heading a pharmaceutical firm would have done outstanding works had he remained in the Engineering field; maybe he would have designed a marvelous suspension

bridge to link mainland and island Mombasa. The capabilities are infinitely open ended.

A more critiquing approach is maybe looking at where we are from to get a grip of where we are headed. A student Engineer in a Kenyan University has to endure a lot more challenges than his counterpart in Birmingham University, UK. Starting from very outdated curriculum content to sitting for exams aimed at trimming the class NOT evaluating his/her capability, and the list is endless. The milestones the engineering fraternity has achieved in technological advancements were unprecedented a decade ago. Currently we deal with very powerful equipment and software that enable us reach depths and heights unimaginable when crossing over to this millennium. All this is never even featured in training at university level. In fact, we learn most of these by ourselves and more than once it’s like a technological bombardment once a trainee leaves the institution supposedly ready for the market. Am sure most of the available prominent engineers recall vividly the trouble they underwent in the metamorphosis to be able to fit into the market. That was then, consider now with all the advancements conceived!

It is time the training institutions & universities embrace the need of equipping a graduate with everything necessary to produce a breed of quality, all round well trained engineers for the job market. It is time for the corporate world to put aside the thoughts of profits and engage the graduate engineer by creating job opportunities ,and probably then we may achieve Vision 2030.Otherwise, a status quo would effectively mean the Millennium Development Goals, Vision 2030 inclusive all remain a pipe dream.

Cedric Obonyo Graduate Engineer

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Student Engineer

Topic Environmental Education

continued from previous issue

RATIONALE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION TO STUDENT ENGINEERS

‌ through the introduction of environmental issues alongside their training in engineering, engineers will develop the habit of considering the environment in all aspects of their work.

The existing perception among the students that the topics addressing environmental issues should be left to chemical, environmental and civil engineers is false. The perception is anchored in the belief that chemical and environmental engineers’ works relate to the environment as they are involved in the design, maintenance and treatment. Civil engineers are also seen as relevant to the environment due to their work on industrial structures, buildings and systems. These groups of engineers are seen as the most prone to making changes to the environment.

Considering the impact of the works in the other engineering professions more so at the University of Nairobi with has five departments in the faculty of engineering augments the need for environmental education to engineers.

Electrical engineers work; high-voltage lines, floating electric currents, magnetic and electric fields, etc on the environments have adverse impacts. For instance, if there is an electrical short circuiting that leads to power surges the ecosystem would be tampered with apart from the human being.

Moreover, the electrical appliances have specific life spans after which they become obsolete requiring disposal (e-waste). These e-wastes if not properly disposed causes environmental degradation.

Therefore electrical engineers too should be made more aware of environmental issues and sustainable development though there is very little coverage of these issues in electrical engineering curricula especially at the University of Nairobi. As Choi & Pudlowski have pointed out, electrical engineers have much potential to contribute to environmental quality improvement, especially in the area of energy conversion and storage, environmental variables measurement, remote sensing and detection, and designing computerized environmental protection systems.

Mechanical engineers on the other hand contribute

heavily to the pollution of the environment. Most of their works involves use of metal both light and heavy a part from the refrigerants used in the refrigerators. Although international standards limits use of certain refrigerants it is through environmental education that the aspiring engineers would grasp the importance of mechanical designs that is merged with environmental aspects.

The lingering question might be how to include the environmental education in the curriculum considering the packed tight units/courses/modules that are currently taken by student engineers and the specific number of hours that an engineering course should cover. Well, this is beyond this passage but it will be prudent to mention that within each unit emphasize should be on the environmental challenges that will confront an engineer through his/ her career. The underlying fact is that all engineers in their course of work will definitely come into contact with environmental problems either directly or indirectly therefore the inclusion of environmental education will provide the engineers with tools on how to deal with the problems. Such courses/ units will enable engineers to understand the interaction between technology and environment hence design of systems that are not at the expense of water, land and air- the components of environment.

In conclusion, engineers apply factor of safety in their design to compensate for uncertainties about the strength of their structures, the same should also be applied to compensate for uncertainties about the environmental consequences of their projects.

Environmental education for undergraduate/student engineers at the university level will produce engineers who have the capability to protect the environment while still designing the products that the rapidly globalizing world demands. Once this seed is sown we will produce the twenty-first century engineers who will view the environmental, economic and social development process as a whole, and not just as distinct parts, leading the way towards the implementation of sustainable development.

Oderah Vincent 5th Yr, Environmental and Biosystems Engineering

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Autodesk Inventor Topic Student Engineer

AUTODESK INVENTOR

3D CAD Software for Mechanical Design CAD software has an extensive range of applications, such as in the design of automobiles, ships, machinery, appliances and buildings among others. It is used to simulate,check visual effects, and animation designs. To accommodate the needs of building, civil engineering, manufacturing or plant design industries, CAD software are built for such industries.

Autodesk Inventor

C

AD is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. CAD software is a type of computer program that replaces tedious manual drafting with an automated process. CAD software can help you explore design ideas, visualize concepts through animations and photorealistic renderings, and simulate how a design will perform in the real world

.

CAD software has different features depending on which design process is being used. One version provides features for two-dimensional (2D) vector-based graphics, and the other version is for three-dimensional (3D) modeling of solid surfaces. Three-dimensional CAD software programs enable designers to create models with real world characteristics, to rotate object in three dimensions and enables the designs to be rendered from any angle.

Autodesk速 Inventor速 3D CAD software products offer a comprehensive, flexible set of tools for 3D mechanical design, product simulation, tooling creation and design communication. Inventor takes you beyond 3D to Digital Prototyping by enabling you to produce an accurate 3D model that can help you to design, visualise and simulate your products before they are built. Digital Prototyping with Inventor helps companies to design better products, reduce development costs and get to market faster.

Autodesk Inventor Professional 3D CAD software give a complete digital representation of the design. It includes all of the core 3D mechanical design, CAD productivity, and design communication functionality of Autodesk Inventor plus extended capabilities for creating tooling for manufacturing plastic parts, complex routed systems design, and optimizing and validating the performance of a design digitally, minimizing the need to test the design with physical prototypes Easy-to-use and tightly integrated motion simulation and stress analysis tools in Autodesk Inventor Professional can help you predict how the design will work under real-world conditions so you can get better products to market faster.

Autodesk Inventor Professional also automates key aspects of the design of injection molds for plastic parts, complex tube and pipe runs, and electrical cable and harness designs to help you minimize errors and gain an edge over your competition.

Eng. Michael Thubi, Numerical Machining Complex ...to be continued in the next issue..

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Student Engineer

T

Green Technology

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH GREEN TECHNOLOGIES

hink green, act green, eat green, design green, shop green, read green, build green and go green. These phrases have become a part of our world today, the kind of phrases that will run as default programs in the back of the minds of great environmental activists like the late Wangari Maathai. Going green is a continuous process that can change the way we live our lives.

Sustainable development is a way of utilization of resources to meet human needs while at the same time preserving the environment so that these needs can also be met in the future. Green technology refers to technologies that are environment friendly and are created and used in ways that conserve our natural resources and environment.

Also known as environmental or clean technology, green technology is in no doubt the way to go if we want to save our mother nature.

A number of these technologies have spawned in the recent past and new ones are coming up day after day. They include solar cooking, solar water heating, development of small water head hydropower schemes, smart lighting, day light harvesting, electric cars, plug-in hybrids, green computing, high-tech recycling, wind energy, well the list is just endless. Despite making our life simple, cheaper and interesting, these technologies have other far reaching benefits that go a long way to streamlining our ecosystems.

Think of solar cooking for instance. A solar cooker lets the sun’s UV light rays in and then converts them to longer infrared light rays that cannot escape. Infrared radiation has the right energy to make the water, fat and protein molecules in food vibrate vigorously and heat up. It is not the sun’s heat that cooks the food, nor is it the outside ambient temperature, but rather it is the sun’s rays that are converted to heat energy that cook the food. This heat energy is then retained by the pot and the food by the means of a covering or lid. A properly installed and maintained solar cooker can be very beneficial to the user.

The call to green living can be summarized using the acronym 3Rs which stands for Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.

Some of the simple things that we can do to reduce, re-use and recycle are suggested below.

1. REDUCING This involves reducing wastage and the energy we expend daily by adopting certain traits. We should not buy anything unless we need it. The amount of waste we produce is directly proportional to how much we consume.

The following are ways in which we can minimize the waste we produce in our daily life: Think before you print or photocopy! Print and copy as little as possible, just what you need to.

Edit on screen, not on paper.

Use e-mail to minimize paper use.

Reducing energy consumption There are so many ways of optimizing our energy consumption. Some of these are: Turn off lights and any other electrical equipment when not in use.

Use natural lighting instead of electric lighting whenever possible.

Keep windows and doors closed in heated and airconditioned areas.

Reducing oil consumption and pollution Drive efficiently; drive a fuel efficient car, a car which covers more kilometers per gallon.

Park your car in the shade. Gas evaporates from your fuel tank more quickly when you park in the sun.

Walk or bike to work. This saves on gas and parking costs while improving your cardiovascular health and reducing your risk of obesity 2. REUSE Plastic containers can become food storage, paper can become wrapping paper.

Reuse plastic bags or better get a reusable canvas bags.

Wrap presents in gift bags. Once you tear the wrapping paper off a holiday gift it ends up in the recycle bin, but gift bags can be used over and over again.

Green building technology involves designing buildings that can interact harmlessly with our planet’s ecosystem.

Buildings are designed to be naturally lit during the day and in short to be fully powered by renewable energy sources.

The newly built UN offices in Nairobi is one such building and is in no doubt a ‘building for the future’.

Perhaps this is impacting our environment in a ‘big way’ which leaves so many of us wondering how they can come in.

It is good to focus on that which we can do in our own small ways that can contribute towards the achievement of the overall objective. The greater object is to conserve the natural environment, restore the lost glory and, through unwavering effort, create a habitable place for future generations.

3. RECYCLE Production of recycled paper uses only half the water and 3/4 of the energy than new paper.

If you recycle soda cans, the energy used and air pollution created, is 95 percent less than if the cans were produced from raw materials.

Remember in this world we need not do extraordinary things to be achievers, it is the ordinary things we need to do but in an extraordinary way. Let us all participate.

Ngao Thomas, 5th yr. Mechanical Eng.

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Topic Student Engineer Leisure

Humour A man flying in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced height and spotted a man on the ground, descended further to shouting range. “Excuse me,” he called, “Can you help me? I promised my friend I would meet him half an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

The man answered: “You are in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above the ground, between 40 and 42 degrees north, and about one degree west.

“You must be a engineer,” responded the balloonist.

“I am, how did you know?” answered the man.

“Everything you have told me is technically correct, but I am still as lost as before.

“You must be a manager” responded the man.

“Yes, but how did you know?

“Well,” said the man, “you have no idea where you are, or where you are going. You made a promise that you cannot keep, and you expect me to solve the problem. In fact you are in the same position as when I met you, but now somehow it is all my fault!”

A passerby noticed a couple of city workers working along the city sidewalks.

The man was quite impressed with their hard work, but he couldn’t understand what they were doing.

Finally, he approached the workers and asked, “I appreciate how hard you’re both working, but what the heck are you doing? It seems that one of you digs a hole, and then the other guy immediately fills it back up again.

One of the city workers explained, “The third guy who plants the trees is off sick today.”

Sometimes a modification results in unforeseen

consequences

because

the various people involved did not fully understand each other’s requirements or intentions

Applying engineering to real life situations

As technical heard it

As construction installed it

As projects interpreted it

As engineering designed it

As works modified it

What the plant manager wanted

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