- Prof Peter Kibas said that joint efforts by scholars and innovators will enhance research conclusions and innovations to solve problems.
- To resolve the socio-economic and technological problems it was imperative to organise joint scientific and engineering initiatives.
Image: John Kamau
Researchers have been urged to embrace inter-disciplinary team work to speed up more innovations.
Zetech University head of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology hub Prof Peter Kibas said that joint efforts by scholars and innovators will enhance research and innovations to solve problems.
Kibas spoke at the award ceremony for innovators held at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
The innovators had showcased their works during the Kiambu county youth innovations and entrepreneurship workshop on March 25.
He said innovations and commercialisation of new products depended on every researcher’s input for realisation of meaningful innovations with market value.
“Scientific, engineering, technological and entrepreneurial fields cannot move their innovative ideas, products or services to the market without collaborations from their colleagues in other fields,” he said.
He divulged that plans are underway to hold a multidisciplinary research conference on sustainable innovations at Zetech University.
“We are calling for the submission of abstracts and concept papers. It is through research that we create knowledge and find practical solutions to the technological, social and economic challenges facing our societies, and the world at large,” he said.
The don said to resolve the socio-economic and technological problems it was imperative to organise joint scientific, engineering, technological and entrepreneurial initiatives.
“Again, universities should take the leading role in creating teams to spearhead manufacturing and production of consumer goods for the local and export markets because this is the key to eliminating the dependency of imported manufactured goods," he said.
"We have a huge potential and especially with our young minds in our higher learning institutions."
He also challenged the researchers to borrow a leaf from China and improve on the quality of products and innovation after testing the market, saying customer feedback is a better form of quality review for improvements.
Some of the innovations that scooped awards include the Animal-Online Farm by a Zetech University ICT student, Hannah Wambui.
Animal-Online is a system where customers can interact with farmers to buy animals online, either for slaughter or rearing.
Another one is XOCO by Peter Tepela and John Wanderi which is an e-commerce platform that looks into offering a medium through which university students can easily sell and buy second-hand goods from each other.
The innovators looks forward to offering an executive peer-to-peer platform where users shall have a seamless trading experience.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)