Collaborative Development and Utilization of iLabs in East Africa

Makerere University

When iLabs were introduced in 2005, the iLabs Project at Makerere University (iLabs@MAK) had one developer; Mr. Albert Lumu. In 2007, iLabs@MAK, under the leadership of Professor Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa, embarked on a more structured approach to team building. An institutional iLabs@MAK project team structure was put in place. The structure had provisions for the Principal Investigator, the project administrator, the research co-ordinator, graduate developers and undergraduate developers. The student developers work under the guidance and supervision of the staff members. The iLabs@MAK Project is hosted by the Faculty of Technology. Figure 1 shows the iLABS@MAK structure as of November 2010.

Figure 1.

Team structure of iLABS@MAK project

The student developers are chosen holistically on merit from the BSc Computer Engineering, BSc Electrical Engineering and BSc Telecommunications Engineering Programs. This ensures continuity of the team when the majority of the final year developers leave on completion of their undergraduate studies. One of the core values of iLabs@MAK is the provision of equal opportunities to both male and female students. As of November 2010, eight of the sixteen undergraduate student developers are female.