On this most auspicious of days(click the link), in lieu of the more commonplace sobriquet of blowing candles and partying, I chose to attend a research seminar at JKUAT. This is my best birthday gift to myself. Let me explain.

I attended a research seminar today at JKUAT’s IPIC exhibition hall. The training is organized by the JKUAT’s electrical department. The presenter was the re-known Prof.Henry Bwisa, a professor of entrepreneurship at JKUAT, COHRED. I was blown away by his presentation style and content. So for 2 and half hours, we sat pensively listening to him. He is the first academic I have ever met in Kenya who is a practioner of what he teaches and seems to have a skin in the game. So, to teach entrepreneurship, he also uses his own business cases. He started or starts businesses. He is a writer and a consultant. He shared very valuable insights on research and how to conduct one. We took notes. He shared personal anecdotes to distill points in the style equivalent to that of say, Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Michel de Montaigne. If he doesn’t know these guys yet, I will introduce him to them.

In my current and future self as a teacher, I hope to emulate him. I surely cannot reproduce what he said, all those who attended the seminar benefited a lot. And he will be there again tomorrow from 8.30am to 4.30pm.

Prof.Bwisa has no issues with self-promoting himself, advertising himself. He quipped, “If I do not blow my own trumpet, who will?  He mentioned that we Kenyans (or Africans) have this self-deprecating humility that we wish others to praise us or promote us. We feel that we should only allow others blow our trumpets, and not ourselves. We are kind of ashamed of our own achievements or desires. And we shame others who try to. I can somehow relate, in 2015, when I was starting out as an electrical engineer, I started a site called, Electrical Engineering in Kenya, a place to share what I was learning and was to learn in this field. I shared this idea with some colleagues and I can’t find the right words to express the scorn I faced. Why do you want to self-promote yourself? Who are you are to start writing about a field you have almost no practical experience in? They asked. Fortunately, I didn’t listen to them. Writing and advising on electrical matters at the site has been a satisfying experience. I have also gained monetarily from the same, not to mention the people (students, engineers, citizens) who have benefited from it. The future is bright.

Now back to Prof. Bwisa. He mentioned why it is important to dig deeper into causes of issues before we pass judgements. Why should you pass judgment based on symptoms? For example, if a student comes late to his lectures, he rarely chases them away. There are deeper, root causes.

He doesn’t fail students. When he used to set exams, they used to be open book papers.

He does not give written examinations. His teaching is based on coursework and projects. Some of his students have gone ahead to commercialize some of their project outputs from the class.

He says the academia is out of touch with the industry. To bridge this gap, academicians should be practioners so that they have a feel of what goes on in the industry. Read more abou his ideas on his website by clicking this link.

Main reasons why we should do research. In this order.

1. Desire to be of service to the society.
2. Desire to face the challenge in solving a problem.
3. Desire to get intellectual joy.
4. Desire to get respectability.
5. Desire to get the benefits associated with acquiring the certificates (MSc, PhD).

He also advised, “Invest on deeds”. Even as you blow your own trumpet, you must be a person of action.

Further, “Use the channels that we have to share your ideas and work”, “We have Websites, YouTube, and social media”.  He is a man of action. Just google, “Professor Bwisa.” He has also written several books. He shuns administrative assignments. He maintains that he is a teacher and that is enough for him.

We meet with him tomorrow for the final session.

And yes, those 3 hours were my best gift to myself.  Choosing to attend the seminar.

One request, do you have a favorite book, movie, song or documentary that you can recommend? Kindly share in the comments section. That will be your gift to me.