More than 150 papers from the university’s staff members, key industry players, and research partners were presented at the 2018 Research and Innovation Conference. The conference, whose theme was ‘Looking into the Future: Solving Tomorrow’s Problems with Today’s Research’, took place from 29^th October – 2^nd November at Strathmore University. Undergraduate students were not left behind; they had 46 presentations, with the first two days of the conference dedicated to them.

The presentations from nine multidisciplinary thematic areas, which ranged from Mathematical Applications and Economics, Health, ICT, Humanities to Public Policy, gave the attendants a glimpse into solving tomorrow’s problems with today’s research. Prof. Da Silva, DVC Research and Innovation, reiterating this said, “This conference has brought together academia, industry, and government because, based on the triple helix concept, we need this synergy to make research work.”

The keynote address was given by Dr. Jemimah Onsare, Ag. CEO for the National Research Fund. She highlighted the projects and studies within the university that NRF has funded and pointed out potential research areas that can be tapped. Speaking on the theme of the conference, she said, “Research is a key catalyst that will unearth the challenges the country is facing and provide solutions that will solve these problems.”

The Tourism and Hospitality  track hosted the 3^rd African Conference on Sustainable Tourism. This conference focused on engaging advanced level students, lead researchers, industry players, and government officials in areas such as community and conservation and tourism and rural development.

Also taking place within the week was the inaugural Food, Energy, and Water (FEW) Nexus Forum organized by Penn State University. The aim of the nexus was to address challenges in food, energy and water systems. Some of the FEW Nexus discussions concentrated on fostering strategic partnerships to create an enabling environment for food security and agro-pastoral development within the country, drought management and rainwater harvesting and management for agriculture and domestic use.

On the fourth day of the conference, in a roundtable discussion focusing on the theme of the conference, panelists highlighted the need for research to influence policy and why academic and research institutes should be linked to industrial needs.

This event was intended to provide a platform for celebrating the research activities of the staff and students of the university and to deepen the university’s research partnerships.

This article was written by Wambui Gachari.

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