Thursday, March 28, 2024

CBU to introduce school of engineering at TAZARA

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CBU Vice Chancellor Naison Ngoma
CBU Vice Chancellor Naison Ngoma

Copperbelt University (CBU) Vice Chancellor Naison Ngoma has disclosed that the University will soon be opening a school of Engineering at the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) in Mpika, Muchinga Province.

TAZARA Mpika workshops built in 1975 is the biggest in Central and Southern Africa occupying a total distance of 1.3 kilometre and has machinery capable of making various products and tools such as hammer mills, bicycles, wheel barrows, bolts and nuts as well as mill balls used by mining companies in the mining of minerals, among many other products.

Professor Ngoma says the opening of the CBU school of Engineering at TAZARA Mpika workshops follows the successful signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between The CBU and TAZARA management.

Professor Ngoma said a CBU lecturer has since been stationed at Mpika to kick start the programme adding that students in their second and third year of study will be learning and doing their practical work at TAZARA Mpika workshops.

The CBU Vice-Chancellor further disclosed that that many other courses such as Human Resource Development, accounts and many others, will also be introduced at the CBU Mpika Campus in due course.

Professor Ngoma added that the TAZARA Mpika workshop is the biggest workshop on the African continent, and that the university’s intention is to fully utilize the facility by training a cadre of engineers capable of contributing to the economic growth of the country.

Professor Ngoma was speaking in Chinsali recently when Muchinga Province Minister Malozo Sichone called on him at Kapasa Makasa University.

And Muchinga Province Minister Malozo Sichone has commended the CBU management for the initiative of opening up a school of Engineering at TAZARA Mpika workshops.

Mr. Sichone says operationalizing of the TAZARA Mpika workshops will enhance revenue base for the railway company which has been struggling with finances.

Mr. Sichone said TAZARA workshop has capacity to repair vehicles adding that personal and government vehicles can be repaired from the TAZARA Mpika workshop and what is only required is to put things in order.

Mr. Sichone further disclosed that the TAZARA Mpika workshop also has capacity even to make bicycles, slushers, hoes, and hammer mills, among others products.

Mr. Sichone also suggested to the CBU management to consider offering mechanical engineering course so as to fully utilize the facilities available at the workshop and enable them use the same facility to repair various types of vehicles and heavy machinery in collaboration with TAZARA.

He said that the workshop can be used to service even government vehicles saying currently government is spending huge sums of money through servicing of vehicles which is usually done in Lusaka and the Copper belt.

19 COMMENTS

  1. Let’s compare professors of ka CBU with professors at world’s best institutes.
    MIT, Tim Brenners Lee the one who invented Internet or CMU or Stanford,Robert Tarjan won a turing award.Or Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg the founder of facebook. Or Cornell,John Hopcraft is a turing award winner!! All CBU have to brag about is throwing stones at Jumbo drive..And mainly focus on completing syllabus on time not on student’s learning.
    You cannot build a rocket, fly it to the moon, land a human and bring him safely back on your own. While creativity and analytics is of great importance, the most complex engineering projects in human history from the International Space Station to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig have critically hinged on team dynamics and leadership. Top schools in the US have a lot…

    • CONT’D…
      Top schools in the US have a lot of team-based classwork and projects to instill these capabilities (e.g. communication, work splitting+combining, team diversity, etc.). CBU’s sailing on blind competition, severely hinder students’ abilities to cooperate and collaborate effectively outside of techfests, robotics competitions and the like.

  2. old theory without any practice is useless, its like planting maize that does not produce any maize same as engineering without manufacturing ,the Zambia army is key to manufacturing and engineering

  3. This is another mistake we are making as Zambia. Zambia has enough engineering training universities in UNZA and CBU as it exists now. What we need are hands on craftsmen and technicians not more desk bound engineers no no no please.
    Those TAZARA Workshops and the Training College at Mpika need to remain and enhance TEVETA level training, that is what TAZARA and indeed Zambia desparately needs please please twapapata.
    CBU is already choking by taking on the Kapasa Makasa University under its wings. Right now every body knows that running Kapasa Makasa Univesity from Kitwe is a total disaster. problem, CBU should not be greedy, this foray by CBU is a non starter, just forget it. Government should spend money on sensible things and not money sink holes like this one. Besides, both the…

    • I can see blood! Blood is dripping from every orifice in your body. You are filled with hate and your reward is blood oozing from your holes in your body!

    • Please, please help this person. They urgently need a psychiatrist. This incoherence and hate could be signs of something to do with their mental state.

  4. forward thinking Zambian education administrator. this move is long overdue. Once upon TAZARA workshop assembled tractors for small scale farmers. Lets be proud of our own initiatives. Rome was not build in day. Ulushimu lubi luntu lushele kubuluba. Shimuchita panono apokele mwikala fye ……..

  5. Very Good prof keep it up. As Former COBUSU President and CEO I fully support the initiative. Now Engineer and Entrepreneur.

  6. “******* ****” is the most useless UPND’s cadre. All that UPND can think of is destructive thinking.
    CBU is doing better than Unza for spreading its academic potential to the rural areas. The idea of establishing the School of Engineering is commendable. CBU Campus at Riverside in Kitwe has no facilities to execute tangible practicals in Engineering. Hence use of engineering facilities in Mpika will improve the quality of training engineers in Zambia.
    ******* **** should note too that CBU has trained some of the best Architects in Southern Africa.
    ******* **** can best settle for encouraging HH and UPND to exploit peoples’ land in Namwala – the Party’s business policy.

    • “CBU is doing better than Unza for spreading its academic potential to the rural areas. ” Already you are showing your dullness here , have you ever heard of UNZA Adult Education & Extension which is spread across the country and many other institutes affiliated to UNZA? If you google, UNZA is the highest & oldest learning institution in Zambia.Even enrollment is the highest (due to demand, infrastructure, ranking & curriculum ) compared to ZIT sorry meant CBU. No wonder you stated it yourself, “CBU Campus at Riverside in Kitwe has no facilities to execute tangible practicals in Engineering”.By the way am NOT partisan and the nearest part I can subscribe to is PF not your hallucination without facts which shows you lack empirical research skills.So go back to your CBU tent library…

    • CONT’D..
      So go back to your CBU tent library and learn some basic skills in research methodology for your upcoming thesis in Forestry particularly how to produce honey.Compare the below with UNZA & CBU;
      .) Teaching: the learning environment
      2.) Research: volume, income and reputation
      3.) Citations: research influence
      4.) Industry income: innovation
      5.) International outlook: staff, students and research
      6.) Infrastructure: Labs,lecture halls, library and hostels

  7. Any academia in line with manufacturing is key to national economic independence.

    Hence, we need to support the motion to its level best. Let’s encourage CBU so that they can bring this move to fruition.

  8. Thanks CBU for this great initiative you have done maybe things will be more advanced but let the tvt run the examinations

  9. ******* ****.doesn’t know what is saying…..he talking about MIT…forgeting that ZIT. was designed on the same model as MIT…CBU was meant to be a technical University in Zambia….******* ****….maybe u ve never worked in the mines….CBU has been producing technicians..technologits..en engineers in the mines….go to a hospital…u re likely to find a CBU trained medical doctor…..We know UNZA is the oldest en largest thats a fact but it has only two campus…great east road and ridgeway…..the rest re affiliated to produce diploma graduates only….CBU has Kapasa Makasa Campus in Chinsali.. Ndola Sch of medine. Riverside main Campus….Solwezi and now Mpika….So dnt insult CBU…..give it respect where it is due…
    Let also ******* **** know that CBU…will remain leader in…

  10. remain a leader in offering business programes en architectural programmes which it has been offering for the past 30 yrs….We applaud CBU management for Mpika TAZARA initiative…

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