BY NJOKI KARANJA
The Cabinet Secretary of Education, Hon Ezekiel Machogu, has, in a Monday gazette notice this week, established the first ever Council for the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
The CS appointed Prof. Emmanuel Mustisya as the Chairman and Prof. Washington O. Yotto, Dr. Collins. K. Tanui, Eng. Meshack Kidenda and Purity Mureithi as members of the Council for a period of three years.
The Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is an institution modelled after the Korean Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), aiming to be a critical catalyst for fast tracking modernization and transformation of Kenyan society into middle-income country by 2030.
Therefore, the institution development – supported by the South Korea government – is in progress at Konza Technopolis with prospects of admitting the first batch of students later this year. It is one of the anchor tenant at the upcoming smart city.
In a Gazette Notice No.6757 of Universities Act (No.42 of 2012) dated the 22nd May 2023, CS Machogu said: “IN EXERCISE of the Powers conferred by Section 36 (1) of the Universities Act, the Cabinet Secretary for Education appoints – Under paragraph (a) Emmanuel Mutisya (Prof.) Chairperson Under Paragraph (d) Washington O. Yotto (Prof), Collins. K. Tanui (Dr), Meshack Kidenda (Eng.) and Purity Mureithi as chairperson and members of the Council of the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, for a period of 3 years, with effect from 23rd May 2023.”
The Chairman, Prof. Mutisya is a Project Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate Program in Sustainability Science, Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI) and a Coordinator of the Next Generation of Researchers Group. On his part, Dr. Tanui is a Research Scholar at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, a position he has held since December 2022.
Prior to that position, he was a Post-doctoral Associate at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA. Professor Yotto Ochieng, FREng, is the current Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Chair Professor in Positioning and Navigation Systems at Imperial College London.
In conclusion, he is also the Senior Security Science Fellow at the Institute for Security Science and Technology (ISST) at Imperial College in London.