Background
The Kenya Society of Environmental, Biological and Agricultural Engineers (KeSEBAE) held a very successful conference on the 24 and 25 November 2021. The theme of the conference was: Engineering for Transformation.
The conference was attended by delegates from Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and The United States of America. The conference recorded a total attendance of, one hundred and twenty-six (126) engineers (Professional Consulting Engineers, Professional Engineers, Graduate Engineers and Student Engineers) on 24 November 2021 and one hundred and thirteen (113) on 25 November 2021.
The sub-themes of the conference were as follows:
- Energy
- Environment
- Disaster Management
- Engineering Education, Research and Practice
- Mechanization, Irrigation and Water Resources
- Processing, Infrastructure and Structures
- Blue Economy and Emerging Issues
Presentations
During the conference, a total of 28 papers were presented which were highly informative and educative. The members in attendance testified that the overall conference experience was challenging, mindboggling and captivating.
The inclusion of student’s association in the KeSEBAE conference was inspiring since the students are the future of the society.
Physical Conference and Regional Chapters 2022
The chairperson Eng. Prof. Lawrence Gumbe urged the members to put their best foot forward, even as they continued working in the next year 2022. He also informed the members that in 2022, the society looked forward to holding a physical conference or a mixed mode attendance conference. His address was marked by the introduction of the regional chapters of KeSEBAE as we looked forward to a brighter future for KeSEBAE.
PASAE Partnership
The Honorary Secretary, Eng. Shiribwa Mwamzali, thanked everyone for their participation throughout the year. He also made a special vote of thanks to PASAE for the accomplished partnership with KeSEBAE. The partnership led to the sponsoring of KeSEBAE webinars, in the year 2021. This enabled members to attend the webinars at no cost incurred to them. In addition, he said he looked forward to further partnering with them in the future.
JEAE and KeSEBAE NEWS
The Secretary encouraged members to keep sharing their manuscripts for publication at the JEAE, a journal of its kind. He also called upon members to send in articles for the KeSEBAE News, the KeSEBAE newsletter.
New Wings in the Executive Committee
The AGM climaxed with the introduction of two new chapters to the executive committee. These were: the Women Engineering Chapter and the Young Engineering Chapter. This was found to be encouraging for members as the chapters will ensure inclusivity of women and young engineers and provide a platform for them. Hopefully, this will thereby increase the influence base of the Society.
Elections
The Elections were held successfully during the AGM and a new set of leadership was elected and some co-opted into the KeSEBAE Executive Committee.