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THE STUDENT ENGINEER

The Student Engineer is a quarterly publication of the Engineering Students` Association(ESA) at the

University of Nairobi's School of Engineering. The journal aims developing and maintaining a

functional link between the Engineering student and the industry and by extend the lecturers. This is

done by profiling relevant engineering and technology firms and various personalities in their

management. The journal also highlights relevant technology stories and report on the newest

technological trends keeping the students abreast of the happenings in the industry. The journal'sEditorial Board at a very basic level is charged with collecting articles, editing the articles, sourcing for

sponsorship and advertisements, designing the journal and liaising with the printers to finally put the

end product on the table.

Due to professional demand, I feel compelled to give a documentation(albeit in summery) of the last

one year in office as the Editor in chief of the journal. Getting to office with five other colleagues in

June 2008, I must give a thumps up for this team as constituted by the then ESA(Engineering students'

Association) executive 07/08; Ochola David, Loise Mbaria, Laibuta Ritah, Angela Hiuhu, Obiko

Edward and not forgetting the late addition, Obanda Samo, whose efforts and contribution largely

defined the third and final edition(April June edition). While the improvements made to this office

and the journal in particular are massive, I must appreciate the previous office bearers for the role they

played in defining what we were to achieve, and the ESA executives 07/08, 08/09 for their functional

input towards our publications. Most of all my heartfelt appreciation to Engineer Archie McCorkindale,

the Chairman of the editorial committee of the Kenya Engineer Journal, for his unconditional support

through out my term.

THE UPS

Improved volume of the Journal(from the traditional 20 pages to between 28 and 32 pages)

Great improvement on the print quality of the journal.

Increased production from the traditional 300 copies to 1000 copies per edition.

Increased frequency of publication from one journal in a year to a record three journals in ayear.

Improvement in the quality of the articles.

Increased Interest and participation by the students.

Increased awareness of the journal to technology firms and the general public.

Increased distribution among students and firms in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

On line presence of the journal.

Successfully keeping together a team with vast and varied ideas.

Development of the journal's Editorial Policy.

Effecting a smooth transition.

THE DOWNS

Inability to setup the journal website.

0 (zero) investment in desired tools of tread I.e. Personal computer, Laptop, Digital Camera and

Internet connectivity.

0 (zero) appreciation to article contributors and no pay to Board members.

No headway attempted on lecturers.

Visible imbalance between the five departments at the school of engineering.

Instability within the board during work on the third edition(Appreciated though as a normal

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working condition.)

A compromised print quality for the third edition. (circulation actually had to be halted and the

printer had to print 500 more copies of acceptable quality)

Laxity in making editorial crossovers with other established journals.

IMPORTANT SECTIONS OF THE FORMULATED POLICY AND GENERAL GUIDELINES

OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD. The board shall be composed of the Editor in Chief, the Assistant Editor in Chief, the Managing

Editor and between three to five Associate Editors.

Persons holding the above named personalities shall serve a one year term and reapply for their

positions if they wish to serve for another term.

A new board shall be setup by the outgoing board and be approved by the ESA Executive of the

day. The approval shall be done after the Executive meets the new board. The ESA chairman of

the day shall then sign a letter written by the outgoing Editor in Chief through him(the

chairman) to the Dean of Students, University of Nairobi.

The board will meet, regularly as decided or urgently as may be convened by the Editor in Chief

or His/her assistant, to journal publication progress and the Editorial policy. Decisions agreed

upon in such meetings shall be passed as policy.

The Editor in Chief is solemnly responsible of all editorial and journal activities. He/She can

Veto any board decisions if it is deemed fit to do so for the sake of the journal. He/she reports to

the ESA executive and gives progress of the board in relevant and related issues. He/she will

have the last say on any contentious issues in the board meetings. He/She will be the chair of

such meetings. He/she will make the board/journal financial transaction on the advise of the

Managing Editor.

In the absence of the Editor in Chief, His/her Assistant will take over the duties.

The Managing Editor will be responsible for the boards finances and will advise accordingly on

expenditure.

Well the above is what I find important from our two page policy statement and general guidelines of

the board. Most of this are flexible though and any board of the day can edit or formulate their own

policy to suite their requirements.

TRANSITION

saying that I have confidence in the incoming board members can be accurately rated understatement.

Headed by Alphonse Magati and other team members being Peter Muchiri, Juliet Wanyiri, Nancy

Kawira and Rose Nafula, This team has a blend of character, talent and personality. There is no doubt in

my mind that they will hit greater heights.

Visit my blog at http://edsamichblogspot.com for a detailed version.

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