Mobile labs that enable Kenyan engineering students to run virtual simulations, wherever they are

Mr Oteri Omae Malack is a lecturer in the department of Telecommunication and Information Engineering at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya.

Mr Omae has developed Arduino-based mobile labs to teach engineering, computer science and technology students. Arduino is an open-source electronics platform that acts as a micro-controller, or small computer, that can be connected to inputs (sensors) and then used to generate outputs (actuators) of various types.

He has developed this for use at a personal level but hopes it can be adopted for wider usage. He has been developing using and testing this initiative for the last three years.

The use of mobile labs radically transformed the delivery of Mr Omae’s practical sessions and enable real lab kits to be presented virtually.

The mobile labs have leveraged existing Arduino technology and open access software called Tinkercad, a free, easy-to-use application for 3D design, electronics, and coding.

It is used as a simulator, or an emulator. The lecturer starts the simulator, and then the students go ahead and connect to it from their remote locations. For full implementation, a laptop or a smartphone are required.

This innovation has enabled the students undertake practical sessions without being present on campus or in the physical lab. It has been especially valuable during the COVID-19 period, allowing students to remotely connect devices using the “Arduino e-kit” and to conduct their programming virtually.

The students have really appreciated that they were able to conduct practical sessions online from the start to the end.

To enable others to build on these innovations, Mr. Omae has published his work with IEEE– the international body for technical professionals. See: The Application of IoT layer one Based Mobile Labs in Engineering, Science and Technology Education.

Interview conducted by Dr Augustine Mwangi, University of Nairobi.

Mr Omae’s work also features in another story: “Oteri Omae: The Lecturer” — creating a personal teaching platform for engineering students in Kenya