The School of Computing and Engineering Sciences (SCES) has made strides in collaborations and initiatives with universities and research facilities across France that will transform Strathmore student and staff experiences.

These build on and add to the existing and longstanding partnerships between Strathmore and French universities, initiated through the French Embassy in Nairobi. In 2020, the University signed an MoU with Sciences Po for dual degrees in humanities and social sciences that allows students gain a Bachelor’s degree from Strathmore and a Master’s degree from Sciences Po.

Earlier this year, Dr. Julius Butime, Dean, SCES, was in France to explore and cement collaborations at several institutions and research facilities. The partnerships will increase capacity for faculty members through collaborations for joint supervision in graduate research and access to pedagogy training. They will provide opportunities to access funding in common areas of research, increase community engagements and further propel students to the world stage through dual degrees. It also opens up industry linkages and collaborations for research in energy, engineering, solar, smart cities and resilience.

Among the institutions visited were INP Toulouse, Laplace laboratory, ENSEEIHT, EPF, Engineering School and ESIGELEC Rouen. As a result of these visits, an agreement was signed between Strathmore and with Junia for post graduate student and staff exchanges. Furthermore, collaboration in Computer Science training and long term engagement in staff development with a view to building capacity of Strathmore staff were explored.

The visit to the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance laboratory and 3D Fablab at CEA will strengthen and increase capacity of ongoing research by Strathmore faculty members. The visit was also an opportunity to benchmark on the planned construction project for Engineering school in order to incorporate the future-looking and sustainable infrastructural trends.

Strathmore remains committed to exploring opportunities with universities across the world for further engagements in research, and transformative student and staff growth.

This article was written by Wambui Gachari.