Thousands converge for RIE 2014 Science and Technology Minister Dr Olivia Muchena with UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Levy Nyagura (left) and MSU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ngwabi Bhebhe the Research and Intellectual Expo last week
Science and Technology Minister Dr Olivia Muchena with UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Levy Nyagura (left) and MSU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ngwabi Bhebhe the Research and Intellectual Expo last week

Science and Technology Minister Dr Olivia Muchena with UZ Vice Chancellor Professor Levy Nyagura (left) and MSU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ngwabi Bhebhe the Research and Intellectual Expo last week

TechnoMag
Thousands of people from across Zimbabwe, last week converged for the three day Research and Intellectual Expo (RIE), which saw all national research and tertiary institutions coming together to showcase their prowess in science and technological development.
The fourth edition of RIE 2014, an initiative of the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development was successfully run together with the SET expo component, which also sought to promote science, engineering and technology in the Sadc region.

For the first time ever this year’s expo brought in RIE expo, which had been run successfully by the Research Council of Zimbabwe in the past three years with the SET expo component, which was being run under the theme “Engagement, Innovation and Diversity for National Transformation and Development.”

While touring the exhibition stands, the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Dr Olivia Muchena appreciated the tremendous efforts by the research institutions to bring national economic transformation via technological solutions.

Commenting, one of the University of Zimbabwe students, who had prototyped a system to curb congestion at the Coca-Cola Seke Road intersection via a flyover over system, said these are the typical relevant projects that we need to see being implemented.

The minister also enquired further on the strategy, which is currently used to construct the roundabout at the airport road and described it as a solution that is no longer relevant to the current traffic problems we face in Zimbabwe.

National science and technology focussed universities such as NUST, Bindura University of Science and Technology, Chinhoyi University of Technology and Harare Institute of Technology  (HIT) were among other institutions present at the expo showcasing various technological solutions and projects they have been undertaking.

All the national universities and polytechnics were adequately represented at the expo, displaying various projects they have managed to prototype and some of which are already industrial solutions in their respective regions as higher tertiary institutions play their role to create sustainable solutions to the nation.

Typical prototypes which were being showcased included the ATM machine by the University of Zimbabwe, which has the capacity to actually take up deposits. This machine would add so much convenience to the nation if implemented as queuing in most banks for deposits has been inconvenient.

Kwekwe Polytechnic showcased their own in-house e-learning technology, a system developed by a National Diploma student, which seeks to seamlessly connect the students and the lecture in real time for purposes of  examination taking, submission, marking and instant chatting. The system was said to be now commercially ready for uptake by institutions.

Another interesting project they showcased was the intelligent robot system. The system learns the traffic trends and filters traffic according to the volume of flow, unlike generic timed robots, which only increase time for peak hour traffic.

Chinhoyi University of Technology also brought up their soya beans drying machine, which makes it possible for farmers to quickly dry their produce in less than two days, instead of a natural process which would take a week or more.

Great Zimbabwe University and Masvingo Polytechnic College also had various industrial equipments for agriculture and mining sectors they have already designed and are ready for the market. The polytechnic college also had various industrial and household chemicals which its students are working on, increasing much interest to the science development in Zimbabwe.

This equipment is just a tip of the ice berg, as all institutions in Zimbabwe are working on or towards real industrial technological  solutions to provide solutions to the ailing industry, but what boggles the mind is why the country still has high unemployment statistics with all these initiatives.

There are some  obvious missing pieces of the puzzle which the country needs to start scouting for otherwise all these projects and tech expos will become nothing but irrelevant towards solving the country’s challenges.

TechnoMag is Zimbabwe`s Premier Technology Magazine, more  www.technom.ag/74   or join us on our facebook pagewww.facebook.com/technomagzw  Email articles[at]technomag.co.zw tweet @TechnoMagZw

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey