2017 Retrospective: What a year it’s been!
Taking a Moment to Reflect While Continuing to Move Forward: Engineering, Community & Humanity.
2017 has been a big year for me ! As it comes to a close, I’d like to take a moment to look back on the year, contemplate and thank everyone involved for the truly wonderful journey which gave me amazing new opportunities! I have really admired what Ire Aderinokun, Segun Famisa, Otemuyiwa Prosper, Una Kravets, Jeroen Mols and many others do in the community, and I am inspired by their 2016 End Year Reviews. And so this year, I have also decided to do a review of my public activities to realize how far I have come, and how much I need to contribute to make a difference. Like most Engineers, I want to do something unique and build products people really care about. I believe engineers have a unique ability to make the world a better place and there are two ways in which they can do this:
- Designing new unique products and technologies that solve global problems.
- Sharing with others the tools and skills they need to assist in the development of solutions to global problems.
I have tried to design products and work on projects since I was was young, but up to date very few are currently changing lives (The Telecom Kenya Limited 4G — TKL Project Nairobi, this Publication… etc). Actually most of them have really failed, and some go unaccomplished. Despite this, I relish the learning opportunities that comes from my failures.
I have also been involved with the community since 2010, and for all those years, the Lord has been good. This year, I believe, HE must have smiled at me together with the community work that I love to do.
I have written posts, traveled far to learn and share with other about engineering, met a ton of great people and started another tiny IoT company with my tech family (Chris Barsolai, Irene Ngetich, Perminus Nyamweya…)
So here is my year-end review focusing on Engineering, Community and Humanity. I’ve also shared images and included the backstory behind them to provide further context why the images are particularly important to me.
Engineering
Android + Embedded+ AI
Electrical Engineering is really a wide topic and I have made a conscious decision to have a sharp focus on three main areas which revolves around IoT: Embedded Electronics (Designing Circuits and controlling them with Android and JavaScript), Communications Engineering (RF & Wireless Networks that enables IoT such as 4G LTE, NB-IoT & 5G), and Artificial Intelligence (Deep Learning). This gives me most, if not all the spheres that can enable me to connect the physical world into the digital fabric.
Internships & Projects
Android Electronics: Android & AndroidThings
This year, I have worked on some simple projects like:
- Lifi ( A demo app showing how to intergrate Firebase Real time database in Android applications.)
- JoySlide ( Android demo app showing how to create a slider using ViewPager)
- Akombe FireChat ( Android app made for real-time chat conversation using the latest UI and UX studies and rules.)
- Soonami ( Udacity app displaying information about a single earthquake event and whether or not there was a tsunami alert issued for it.)
- Quake Report ( Udacity app displaying a list of recent earthquakes in the world from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) organization.)
- Did you feel it? (Udacity app displaying the perceived strength of a single earthquake event based on the DYFI indicator.)
- Olwenda Rider, OnePark, Parkfy, Taita, Customized Material Design Login Screen, Material Design Bottom Sheets among others.
RF and Wireless Networks
I contributed to the Radio Network Planning, Optimization and Access efforts in Nairobi at Huawei Kenya working on both Telecom kenya and Safaricom Networks. This involved things like measuring and assessing the coverage, capacity and Quality of Service (QoS) of their mobile radio networks, verifying BTS configuration, testing handover for the 3 bands (900,1800 and 2100), identifying snags (hard and soft) of microwave and help clean it directly with Sub Contractor.
Results of TKL Project Nairobi → Telkom Kenya 4G — Nairobi
I met supper awesome mentors and still got a chance to work with members of my tech family; Chris and Irene who were both at Safaricom.
Want to learn more about BTS? Here is a post I did in 2015 → It’s not a Shabaab watch tower, it’s a Base Transceiver Station
AI
- Hyacinth Monitor — Using AI to monitor Water Hyacinth
Featured on Intel DevMesh
Status : Ongoing
- NotHotDog Clone— Using AI to identify if a hotdog or not a hotdog.
“What would you say if I told you there is a app on the market that tell you if you have a hotdog or not a hotdog. It is very good and I do not want to work on it any more. You can hire someone else.” — Yea, Jean Yang’s app in Silicon Valley series.
I know it has been done but I have been working on it to scratch my own itches and for fun!
Status : Ongoing
Watch Jean Yang demo his app here → Demo
Others
I pushed 1 more video to my You tube channel under Project Be There.
Read more here → Project Be There
Community
I have been doing serious community work for 7 years now and I love it. I didn’t scale down or stop doing it this year and I am not stopping anytime soon — I mean it’s my life!
Organizing
I organized events both in the GDG and Intel Communities. Here is the top 10 list of some of the most amazing events I organized/helped organize:
- GDG DevFest Nairobi
- GDG IoT Summit Nairobi
- GCP Next Nyeri
- Intel AI Mombasa
- Intel AI Maseno (2)
- Intel AI Voi
- Intel AI Nyeri (3)
Writing
This year I had the opportunity publish 58 posts on Medium. 9 of the 58 are incomplete and I am trying to find time to work on them; improve and add more contents. The posts include both technical and non-technical contents.
I talked to our lead, Roina, and we started another publication on Medium, GDG Nairobi, on which we intend to post hot updates 🔥, chapter events, meetups, community projects, stories and and many more. Feel free to give us feedback and criticism about the same to help improve it.
These were my most popular articles —
8.9 K Views, 3.4K Reads and 1.6K Claps
642 Views, 268 Reads and 47 Claps
I featured as a top writer for AI on Medium for about 2 days.
I have also featured as the top writer for IoT during the whole year, changing different positions. My best position was number 3. I am currently trailing at → 9/10.
Speaking
I gave several talks both at local meetups and at international conferences focusing on IoT, AI, Open Source Hardware, Maker Movement and Community.
Here are some of the talks I gave:
- Google Beacon Platform, JavaScript Electronics & The Internet of Things → Slides
- Android Things, The Google IoT → Slides
- Community and The Internet of Things → Slides
- IoT Design Thinking, Prototyping and Ideation → Slides
- Android Things for IoT → Slides
- Let’s Talk IoT → Slides
- How Makers Can Go Pro with Android Things → Slides
- IoT & AI: The Perfect Match
- Android Things: If you can build an app, You can build a device!
- IoT & AI: The Intelligence of Things
- TensorFlow & IoT among others
I was really privileged to give IoT session at 3/4 DevFests in Kenya. I was extremely excited to go to DevFest Western kenya for the very first time and enjoyed doing one at DevFest Rift Valley. I first gave an IoT talk at Devfest in DevFest Rift Valley (Previously DevFest Nakuru) in 2015 and I have been doing the same ever since. I felt so emotional because when I first gave an IoT talk at this DevFest in 2015, (Read more here → DevFest Nakuru 2015), Google was only providing an Operating System for IoT, yet today they are providing a whole platform (Developer Preview, DP6). Then, they had just announced Brillo & Weave at the I/O 2015. Today they have included IoT (Android Things ) as one of their new form factors besides Mobile, Wear, TV and Auto and I am really excited for the possibilities for the developers to build really amazing things. I am really hopeful that they are going to release the full LTS (Long Term Support) next year, probably at I/O 2018. It is the best time ever to be an IoT Engineer! I can say that because I have never seen anything that we have now before; the meaningful confluence of incredible developer changes, more powerful developer tooling, support for on device machine intelligence and an awesome community behind it.
Traveling & Adventure
I got to travel to some really awesome new places and had some incredible international and local free flights courtesy of Huawei, Google and a supper supper awesome friend.
Stats:
- 13 Free Flights
- 4 Continents
I went to places like San Francisco, CA (Silicon Valley), to experience and learn more about Community and IoT, Lagos, Nigeria to experience and learn more about Community, Beijing China, to learn more about Chinese Culture, Shenzhen, China to experience and learn more about Open Source Hardware, Maker Movement, 4G, 5G and IoT.
Watch the incredible things Happening in Shenzhen here → Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware | Future Cities | WIRED.
I also traveled by road across the country and even got an accident . Thank God I buckled up, otherwise it could have been a different story.
I went to awesome places like Kit Mikayi, and even took a boat to Ndere Island among other places.
Meeting New people
I was also privileged to meet some amazing people. I had a chance to meet and talk to Dave Smith, an Electrical Engineer and a Developer Advocate for IoT at Google, Wayne Piekarski, Developer Advocate at Google, focusing on the Internet of Things & the Google Assistant and Sam Beder, Product Manager on Android Things.
I also had a chance to talk to Luis Montes and Sheldon McGee, Organizers for GDG Phoenix and was lucky to get their IoT Devfest official t-shirt. Wohoo 💪 💪
We shared more about Nodebots and Johny 5, a JavaScript Robotics & IoT Platform maintained by a community of passionate software developers and hardware engineers.
How I wish Google acquires this platform for Web developers!
More about their devfest → IoT DevFest Arizon. I hope to organize the same someday!
I also got to meet Vitaliy Zasadny and Oleh Zasadnyy. They are some of the leads at GDG Lviv, which is famous for high-level organized conferences. They organize GDG DevFet Ukraine, the biggest community conference about Google technologies in the CEE. More about their DevFest → GDG DevFest Ukraine 2017 — Highlights
I also got to meet Kenneth Christiansen, a Danish software engineer at Intel and a Google Developer Expert. I have really learnt a lot from Kenneth especially on Web USB, Arduino 101 and the Zephyr Project.
I was also privileged to meet Femi TAIWO once again. If you want learn about humility and leadership, just observe how Femi handles people. You will be inspired on how to be humble yet confident. The best leaders are humble!
The last time I saw Femi I was barely learning Android → Devfest Nyeri 2013.
I met so many amazing people this year and the list long. I had constructive discussions with Ndung’u Njung’e, Pic I. Ndung’u was my room mate during my stay in China. We frequently talked about revolutionists like Che’ Guevara and Thomas Sankara. I learnt a lot from everyone I met and their activities, and they have made me become a better person. I’m thankful and grateful.
I have also maintained most of my close friends despite the political heat in Kenya. They are the best!
Grants & Awards
Huawei
- I received a travel grant to travel to China under the Telecoms seeds for the Future program, organized as a partnership between the ICT Authority and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
- I learnt some Basic Chinese language, Painting and Calligraphy in Beijing and got a Certificate from Beijing Language and Culture University
- I received a certificate of Honor from Huawei University in Shenzhen, Guangdong, Huawei Base.
Intel
- I received a certificate of appreciation from my Boss at Intel for leadership and active participation in shaping the AI Community in Q1 (Innovation)
- I also received a second certificate of appreciation from my Boss at Intel for leadership and active participation in shaping the AI Community in Q3 (Instruction)
Google Local Guide
- I finally reached level 7
I actively created and updated changes to Google Maps. I also reviewed, approved and declined changes made by other map makers to keep Google Maps correct and up-to-date to the highest standards.
Learning
I learned about Chinese culture in Beijing and also traveled to Shenzhen, Huawei, Global Headquarters, to learn more about Huawei’s culture, strategy and values, and received technical training from some of the finest professionals in the industry.
We received training from Huawei experts at the Huawei University on the latest Technology in ICT such as 5G, IoT and Cloud.
I really admired his mastery of contents and how he delivered them. I hope to do so someday on my focus area during our meet ups and events.
Udacity
I spend 5452 minutes in Udacity to improve on my skills. There are a lot of awesome contents on that website that can help anyone master some of the most competitive skills. They have Nanodegree programs that are built with the world’s most forward–thinking companies like Google, Facebook, AT&T, IBM, GitHub, and more.
Take a look → Udacity
AI — Deep Learning
I also learnt AI theory and followed hands-on exercises with Intel free courses at Intel AI Academy. These lessons cover AI topics and explore tools and optimized libraries that take advantage of Intel® processors in personal computers and server workstations.
Take a look → Intel AI Academy
Campus
I also learnt a lot from school doing interesting units like Wireless Network I, Wireless Network II and Digital Signal Processing among others
Here’s to the future: 2018
I’m really fired up for 2018 and I have a lot of great things I want to do.
1. Events & Traveling 🔥🔥
Software and Hardware craftsmanship thrives on its sharing community. I want to organize more events that champion exchange of ideas and even travel. I am thinking of doing research, seeking advice from the best organizers/veterans/mentors and working with other GDG communities to literally bring Google I/O to Nairobi in the form of DevFest.
I am talking about something close to this → GDG DevFest Ukraine 2016 🔥 and I have talked to our able lead, Roina about it.
I’d like to continue speaking and sharing contents on IoT, 5G and AI at different conferences. Feel free to invite me to your community.
I also want to improve on my mastery, the quality of my contents and delivery. I like the way John Papa and Dave Smith do their stuff.
Dave Smith: Take a look → Developing for Android Things Using Android Studio (Google I/O ‘17)
John Papa: Take a look → An Angular 2 Force Awakens
2. Start Up
We are currently working on an awesome IoT Start up with my Tech family. We are planning to release an alpha version in February. I am contributing to everything Android Electronics & Android Things.
3. Open Source Projects
- I want to work on more open source projects on both GitHub and CircuitHub
- I want to design more circuits and collaborate on CircuitHub
4. Health
- I want to prioritize on health and start something like a weekly running streak
5. Blog
- I want to write more and more, both technical and non technical contents specifically on my technical stack Android Things, 4G-5G & AI.
- I want maintain my position as a top writer of Internet of things on Medium by contributing more high quality contents.
- I am doing an Android Things tutorial.
Final thoughts
Everything about community reminds me about the legendary Homebrew Computer Club. Club members were a group of computer, electronic enthusiasts and technically minded hobbyists who gathered to trade parts, circuits, and information pertaining to DIY construction of computing devices. I hope our communities, like the Homebrew, will result into more local solutions and companies that make a difference in people’s lives.
I am extremely grateful to Aniedi Udo-Obong and the team at DevRel, Mercy Orangi, Odili Charles, Roy and the team at Intel, Special thanks to Kenneth M Kinyanjui (every-time I want to do anythings especially talks and blogs, I remember the “Humility is key “ and “Kaizen” advice), Dennis Riungu and all mentors at Huawei, Chris Barsolai and all friends, Roina and the Community, and all of you who read my posts.
You made me a better lead, and you made me a better man. You have pushed me to do more, and a bit better than before. Thank you again for everything you do.
Happy Holidays & Cheers to an amazing 2018!
