Officials from the College of IT Engineering, School of Electronics Engineering Kyungpook National University in South Korea were in Uganda for a week to renew and further academic collaboration with Makerere University College of Computing and Information Sciences(CoCIS).

The visiting team comprised Prof. Dong Seog HAN (Dean College of IT Engineering and Professor School of Electronics Engineering who is also Director Centre for ICT and Automotive Convergence), Professor Dongik Lee (Department of Embedded Control Systems Laboratory), and Professor Kalyana. C. Veluvolu.

The trio held a meeting with the Principal College of Computing and Information Sciences Prof Tonny Oyana,  a few alumnus staff of  Kyungpook National University, and prospective students in the College Geospatial Laboratory on 14^th August 2023.

Prof. Oyana said, the college has collaborated with Kyungpook National University for five years through exchange of students and research and would like to renew and strengthen this collaboration.

The two parties according to Prof. Oyana were slated to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in three principal areas of collaboration namely; Faculty and students research and also conducting joint activities with their interest in South Korea and the Government of Uganda.

“One of their strong areas of research is on indoor research and localization. For example, how to improve sensor performance when inside the building, how do you make measurements, and use this information for mobility and emergency purposes in case there is an emergency in the building. They also work on control systems. Control systems work well with the entire production system”, The Principal explained.

Prof. Oyana said the college has been lucky to learn from Kyungpook National University and produced good students who have come back to Makerere University including Dr. Steven Odong who will be implementing some of those areas at Makerere University.

As a college, Prof. Oyana said collaborations have been initiated by different partner interests and students’ projects while a lot of government and partner support has been invested in building strong laboratories and strengthening internet access.

“South Korea has major projects in Uganda. There is a project worth $100m which the college is part of. We have a lot of young people who are ready to work and innovate.

The best is to connect to the South Korean Embassy for extensive discussion and formalization of the collaboration with Makerere University”, The Principal submitted.

Prof. Dong Seog HAN commended Makerere University students for their hard work, dedication, and excellent performance.

“The student’s attitude was so nice, he was very hard working and could spend most of the time in the laboratory”, The Professor appreciated.

Professor Dongik Lee expressed South Korea’s commitment to supporting Ugandan students. He advised students to form collaborative groups to tap into opportunities at Kyungpook National University.

Kyungpook National University (KNU) is known for producing the top Korean intellectuals of the age, representing the Republic of Korea with pride. KNU  is ranked 667 in Best Global Universities.

For details please click: https://en.knu.ac.kr/main/main.htm

Story by,

Jane Anyango