Mr David Maru operates a rapid prototyping machine at the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology. Caroline Chebet
What you need to know:
The technology helps manufacturers to capture 3D pictures of designs, which are either improved or reproduced en masse.
Twenty-four instructors from the 10 technical colleges where the pilot projects will be conducted were trained in operating the equipment shipped in from China.
Once the technology is transferred to industries, Kenyans will not need to spend millions of shillings importing spare parts, toys and even utensils.
Jared Ndubi, a 23-year-old student at the Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology (RVIST), is upbeat that he will be in the first group to step up Kenya’s industrialisation goal.
He is one of the beneficiaries of a Sh2 billion joint programme between China and Kenya to train personnel in production technology, which will upgrade manufacturing.
The prototyping technology targets electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineering students to equip them with skills to reproduce motor vehicle spare parts, bottles, toys, laboratory equipment and also design original art.
Rapid prototyping catalysed China’s growth to become a global economic powerhouse. The technology helps manufacturers to capture 3D pictures of designs, which are either improved or reproduced en masse.
“By the time I leave college, my colleagues in this programme in 10 other colleges and myself will be properly armed to take Kenya to the next level of industrialisation. I am thankful to the two governments for initiating the project,” says Mr Ndubi.
Under the deal, Kenya will get equipment and trainers from China in a project to upgrade technical institutes through a Chinese firm, Avic International. Prototyping enables mass production or reproduction of equipment in plastic, glass or metal form.
After the technology is fully transferred, Mr Ndubi and fellow technicians would be able to reproduce spare parts ranging from nuts to car bonnets.
Twenty-four instructors from the 10 technical colleges where the pilot projects will be conducted were trained in operating the equipment shipped in from China. Among those who went through the four-month refresher course at different cities in China is David Maru, lecturer at RVIST who is “in love” with his new rapid prototyping laboratories where he takes his students through the steps.
The laboratories are in sections, including a reverse room where the devices for reproduction are captured in 3D. This is the information used to build from scratch.
Mr Maru says the project is timely since Kenya needs technically-skilled workforce equipped to start own small businesses. “The country needs youth equipped with practical skills and that is what we are doing here.”
Once the technology is transferred to industries, Kenyans will not need to spend millions of shillings importing spare parts, toys and even utensils. They will be made locally.
China donated a Sh16 million power back-up generator that will ensure training and production are not interrupted in case of power outages. So far, 153 containers with the machines have been imported and are being installed by a team from Avic of China.
Apart from RVIST, other technical institutes benefiting are Bushangala, Murang’a, and Technical University of Kenya.
The second phase of the project will see 40 other training centres roped into the project, in what will be a major boost to Kenya’s technical training.
Industrialists and employers have faulted local polytechnics and universities, accusing them of producing half-baked graduates who have to be trained on the job to cope with the demands on the factory floors.
Shortage of facilities has often been cited as an impediment to quality training while public universities have been hit by limited government funding.
Mr Maru says that in the first phase, 40 Chinese mechanics who assembled and installed the machines have remained in Kenya for two years to guide students and college technicians.
