Pwani University signs technology agreement

Pwani University students during last week’s graduation ceremony. Some 571 students graduated. [PHOTO: JOSEPH MASHA/STANDARD]

Mombasa; Kenya: Pwani University has signed a five-year co-operation agreement with China Research Institute of Radiowave Propagation on mutual ionospheric observation and research.

The university's Vice Chancellor Mohamed Rajab said the two institutions have been co-operating in various areas since last year.

Prof Rajab said the university had through the agreement established a state-of-the-art space monitoring laboratory.

He said the laboratory equipped with a dual frequency (global satellite navigation system) has the capacity to monitor ionospheric plasma density in real time.

The chancellor said the space monitoring system was one of its kind in the entire East and Central Africa region. He added that with the co-operation, the university will receive an additional space monitoring equipment.

He said the equipment was expected to be in place by the end of 2015. The chancellor said with the growing infrastructure in space monitoring facilities, the university expected to foster research and cooperation in space science.

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At the same time, the chancellor said the university has entered a collaboration with the Kenya Medical Research Institute's (Kemri) We Come Trust programme that has been awarded a grant to put up a modern health research laboratory at the university.

project drawings

He said the architectural designs for the project were complete and that the actual ground breaking was set to start soon.

"Pwani University has partnered with Kemri's We Come Trust that has been awarded a grant to put up a health research laboratory. Drawings for the project have been finalised," said Rajab.

He revealed that the university won a scientific equipment worth Sh38 million from Seed Laboratories, a US-based organisation, which will be used to expand research programmes.