Philosophy

The philosophy of the undergraduate program in mechanical engineering is to promote the design, manufacture, operation, and maintenance of mechanical systems for the economic progress of society in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Rationale

Mechanical engineers apply the principles of science to design, manufacture, operate, maintain and model mechanical systems. Such systems are in turn used in transportation (aircraft, aerospace, railway, automobiles); manufacturing (machine tools, manufacturing industries, and process industries); defence; energy and building services among others. The design and other operations involve not only the hardware but also the systems and processes involved as well as the materials used to actualize such designs. All the above are essential for industrialization which is one of the main tenets of Vision 2030. Furthermore, manufacturing is the main part of the Kenya Governments’ Big Four Agenda. There is a need to develop human resources with competence to take up the high level leadership role in providing solutions to challenges in the highly competitive environment of the manufacturing/ service industry. The programme presented here will equip the learner with adequate knowledge and skills in innovation to be able to carry out research and development activities in the highly specialized areas of manufacturing and service provision. On completion of the programme the learners will be adequately prepared to independently carry out industrial research and development activities. They will also be well equipped to pursue post-graduate studies and generate specialized innovations in this field.

A programme in Mechanical Engineering has been offered at the University of Nairobi for over five decades. The motivation to review the curriculum comes from consideration of the following factors:

1. The need to keep abreast of technological advances. This dictates that new content be incorporated while other content, which might have become obsolete, is expunged or revised.

2. The need to comply with emerging regulatory requirements such as those issued by the Commission for University Education (CUE)

3. The desire to introduce some element of specialization given that the breadth of mechanical engineering has grown as a result of technological advancement.

To achieve the above objectives, the following changes have been incorporated during the current review:

a. The course descriptions have been rewritten to be consistent with the guidelines issued by CUE, specifically ensuring that the learning process is outcome-based.

b. Introduction of two courses in Engineering Mechanics (covering “Statics” and “Dynamics”) to replace courses in Applied Maths.

c. Re-alignment of the courses in “Engineering Drawing” to emphasize computeraided drawing, solid modelling, and similar digital techniques.

d. The introduction of courses on the computational modelling of mechanical systems. This recognizes the increasing role of numerical modelling in engineering.

e. Introduction of a course on “Micro Controllers” to prepare the learners for the dictates of manufacturing automation.

f. Introduction of clusters of elective (optional) courses in the final year of study to introduce an element of specialization for the learners.

g. Introduction of courses in entrepreneurship, project management, building services engineering and innovation.

Objectives

The programme presented here will equip the learner with adequate knowledge and skills in innovation to carry out research and development activities in the highly specialized areas of manufacturing and service provision. Upon completing the programme, the learners will be adequately prepared to carry out industrial research and development activities independently. They will also be well equipped to pursue postgraduate studies and generate technological innovations in this field.