Given the cherished innovation ecosystem at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), a team of management and academic staff of Mountains of the Moon University (MMU), Fort Portal City visited the Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer (CITT) to benchmark on the best practices of having an institutionalised Innovation, Business and Technology Transfer Centre at MMU.
This was on Tuesday October 10, 2023 where a lot of ideas were exchanged during the benchmarking mission. The team from Mountains of the Moon University included Eng. Turihohabwe Jack. Joanita Kataike, Mr. Bukenya Moses, Mr. Baranga Peter and Mr. Seppe Vandommele from Belgium. The delegation from MMU greatly appreciated the strides MUST is making in innovation of new technologies and appreciated the strong leadership and enabling infrastructure facilities for this to happen. The team learnt new innovative models that CITT and various hubs have implemented at MUST that have seen great innovation outputs.
They appreciated MUST Council and Management for starting the only institutionalized innovation Centre in the country and East Africa. They were welcomed by the Director of CITT; Dr. Medard Twinamatsiko, the Centre Leader for PHARMBIOTRAC Dr. Casim Tolo Umba and Dr. Baguma Kule the Head of the Business Incubation Clinic in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences.
The delegation was fascinated to see the PHARMBIOTRAC production laboratories, the MRI engineering hub- a low field Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the i-SOFT demonstration site- where biogas and bio-organic NPK fertilizer are being produced biowastes and an organic NPK Fertilizer is also being produced. and later converged for a lengthy information sharing meeting where lots of ideas were exchanged. The Director envisioned the innovation picture for the next 10 years to have a cottage industry at MUST with functional production units
Among the discussions held was how CITT is successfully running an innovation model of innovators, innovation hubs and innovation clubs. The team also learnt from CITT the effective organogram for the management of an Innovation Centre and how to work with regulatory agencies like Uganda Services Bureau (URSB), Uganda National Bureau of Standards among others to protect and facilitate the works of innovators.
In his ultimate remarks, Dr. Medard Twinamatsiko assured the team from Mountains of the Moon University of CITT’s support in their innovation journey and wished them safe travels on their way back to Fort Portal.