Ugandan students prototype device to cut food waste
O&P-UG Tech Camp students do research then prototype projects that can benefit their community.
Ugandan students happy business module added to O&P Tech Camp
At the Oysters & Pearls Uganda 2020 Tech Camp, a business module was added which was very helpful to the students.
Students hope to have clean water after O&P Tech Camp
At the 2020 Oysters & Pearls Tech Camp, a class is held on the importance and how to purify water.
Art is as important as Science, says Ugandan Artist
Art in Uganda has for long been perceived as a field for the less brainy. But art is as important as Science, says Ugandan Artist, Julian Dokcen.
Giving Gulu University Science Students More Skills in Technology
Gulu University students at O&P Tech Lab
Lack of, or inadequate science materials, in addition to ill-equipped laboratories in most Universities in Uganda have always led to the passing-out of poorly trained science graduates who are unable to innovate, or solve simple problems in the community. Oysters & Pearls – Uganda is filling that vacuum, by giving hands-on training to Gulu University students in Computer Science topics at their makerspace.
In the last week of October, Oysters & Pearls – Uganda trained Gulu University students in robotics and programming, among other technology related topics. More than fifty students benefited from the program, and some of them confessed to have gotten their first hands-on experience.
Now, the students gather at the Oysters & Pearls – Uganda Lab every Wednesday and Thursday, to get more practical skills in various fields in technology.
Fernando Opifeera, a first year student Bachelor of Science in ICT says the makerspace is giving him an opportunity to learn more in his course because; “At the Makerspace, I am able to match the theory I learned at the university with its practical application .”
This initiative is also simplifying the learning process of a number of the science students
Oysters & Pearls-Uganda Offers Hands-on Training to University Students
The president of the Faculty of Science at Gulu University, is grateful for the hands-on training given by Oysters & Pearls-Uganda, to students of Information Technology and Computer Science.
Jimmy Lukwago, a final year student of Information Technology at the University, expressed his gladness during a career guidance and practical computing seminar at the University, where Oysters & Pearls was a main contributor.
During the event, Oysters & Pearls-Uganda’s director of technology, Jacob Odur, showed the students how a 3D printer works.
Victor Paul, our robotics trainer introduced the students to embedded systems using Arduino. Victor and the students explored the Arduino hardware; looking at both digital and analog pins, power pins, and barrel jack for external power. Other fields that the students experienced was Arduino Integrated Development environment, IDE, and installation of Arduino software and UNO board drivers.
The students also practiced basic programming, for instance, blinking a Light Emitting Diode, LED, and other hardware, such as breadboard used in electronic prototyping/testing of circuits, among others.
Jimmy acknowledged that many of the science students had not experienced such practical work, and had definitely not seen a number of the materials used.
“The university does not have enough materials for practical work, so a majority of the science students are not exposed. This
Robotics Training Inspires Ugandan Youth
Lack of school fees will not kill Daniel Mwa Okocha’s dream of becoming a technologist. As a teenager, Daniel dropped out of Our Lady of Africa, Mukono, where he was studying Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.
After dropping out of school, the Makerspace, a technology lab at Oysters & Pearls-Uganda, became a perfect haven for realizing his dream.
Oysters & Pearls-Uganda has been offering the robotics training for communities in Gulu, Northern Uganda since 2013. The Makerspace opened in town in 2016 and offers training to students and interested members of the community, who have a minimum qualification of Ordinary Level and importantly, passion for innovation and technology.
Daniel notes that with knowledge, one can solve any problem.
“I want to make a flying bicycle. Nowadays, transport is a problem, so I want to make my own means of transport.”
At the end of the lesson, Daniel is busy working with a set of wires and batteries. After a short while, the transistor multi-vibrator circuit he has just made, illuminates. He smiles widely at his achievement.
Jude Barnabas Kibwota, is another trainee at Makerspace. To him, the training brings his dream alive. Sitting at a table littered with wires, Jude sees a solution in each of them.
“When I see anything electronic, I want to
Teaching Video Game Design in Northern Uganda – A Give and Take
I was invited to teach Video Game Design (VGD) at the Oysters & Pearls-Uganda Tech Camp 2016 along with Professor Carl Twarog from East Carolina University in North Carolina and his 4th year student, Candice Fonville. The three of us made a great team. Sandra had seen a notice on Twitter of my class in Unity in late 2015 at Outbox in Kampala and contacted me. In the first week, we introduced the students to Unity Engine and how to make a basic 3D game with an environment, a 3D character, token collection and score. In the second week, we introduced 2D games, and showed the students the differences and similarities in making 2D, and 3D games. READ MORE...
Uganda – Holiday Robotics Training Sept 2016
Above are the photos from the Holiday Robotics Training held in September 2016. Below is Ntananga Phyllis blog post (from Tech Women Uganda) describing the training.
In early September 2016, I got another opportunity to mentor a group of young people from Gulu in Mobile application development during the Holiday Robotics Training organized by Oysters & Pearls – Uganda at their Gulu town premises. Running for two weeks, this training covered areas like Video Game Design, Robotics and Electronics, Minecraft and Mobile Applications Development. Unlike the January camp, this training was not residential and participants attended from Monday to Saturday between 8AM to 5PM.
A day before the official start of the training, mentors made preparations and arranged the different equipment to be used. It had been 7 months since I was last in Gulu and I couldn’t help but notice in awe the progress Oysters and Pearls had made in regards to their Maker Space – all thanks to Sandra Washburn for her love, dedication and motivation in equipping tech-savvy young people with technological skills to aid them become the change makers this nation needs.
The Maker Space is perfectly set up with all the requirements that anyone with a dream of changing the world
Holiday Training – January 2015
I arrived in Gulu on a Saturday afternoon, not sure what to expect from the next two weeks. As a volunteer with the Oysters & Pearls holiday training program, I knew about the class materials and basic program setup. As I quickly learned however, there was much more to the program than just the teaching.
Joining Sandra and the instructors, I spent the weekend assisting with logistics — the little details that I had never considered, but had to be completed. Where were all the plates for the dining hall? Could we borrow mattresses for students that didn’t bring their own? Why was the electricity off in the classrooms? These and a hundred other small-but-crucial tasks had to be settled, even as students started arriving on Sunday afternoon.
Classes began immediately on Monday, and continued through the week. Sighted students were sorted into one of three classes — Engineering for the Future, Introduction to Robotics, or Advanced Robotics. As the classes delved into new materials and lessons, I watched the projects grow increasingly complex. Since I constantly moved from room to room, I saw the classes develop in snapshots. What started on day one as a collection of wires and boards became a functioning light display, then a