During the official ceremony to commission the new director of PAUSTI Prof. Magoma, a number of speeches were delivered, namely by the director of PAUSTI, the director of HRST, and the staff representatives. For the sake of gender balance, a female and a male took the floor on behalf of the whole staff.

Dr Jane Akinyi, Coordinator of Mathematics programme presented the Mathematicsprogramme at PAUSTI as one that is increasingly becoming the pride of the region. As she rightly put it, “It’s one of the most prestigious in the world today judging by the calibre of students it attracts, the research it produces….”, just to name a few. It is organized into three core study areas available both at Masters and Doctoral levels: Statistics, Financial Mathematics and computational Mathematics options.

There are hopes that this programme will lead to a lasting impact in Africa, as the graduates fit very well into various professions across the continent and beyond.

“The training at PAUSTI prepares the graduates to be able to contribute in propelling Africa to the highest possible levels of social and economic resilience.”

Professor Zackary Abiero Gariy is the Coordinator of Civil Engineering, a post graduate programme that is aimed at producing competent professionals who can fully drive the thematic needs of the continent with a particular focus on the environmental, transportation, structural, construction and water conservation factors among others. The training combines both theory and practice. This programme follows a competent based curriculum supported by the African Union commission. Due to the dynamic and fast changing socio-economic environment in Africa, the university has decided to revise the curriculum every 5 years so as to deliver competence required to solve new and emerging engineering challenges in the continent. This also involves re-designing the programme to produce graduates with enhanced entrepreneurial skills.

Both staff representatives congratulated the director on his appointment and praised all the best skills and human qualities he is endowed with: hardworking, reliable, focused, a humble team worker.

The ceremony was presided over by Pr Kassa Belay who underscored the excellent working relationship between them. He works well, plans, takes up challenges. Thus, his confirmation at the post of Director is not surprising and everyone hopes that he will continue to work in the same spirit.

Prof. Magoma took the floor to thank his entire staff for their invaluable support. He further welcomed and praised the team AU-HRST team. It was an opportunity for him to reaffirm his commitment to continue to move the various programmes forward. He promised to overcome all the challenges and carry out his duties to continue his work relentlessly.

The most solemn moment of this ceremony was when Professor Kassa Belay dressed Professor Magoma in the academic regalia. The newly commissioned Director also received the Statutes of the AU to be used as his main working tool.

The successful event ended with a cocktail party attended by students and academic staff.

Chancelle Bilampassi Moutsatsi, PAU Communication Officer