The Biomedical Engineering Unit Of Makerere University
MakBME is managed under the Department of Physiology School of Biomedical Sciences at the College of Health Sciences. Since engineering courses contribute a huge fraction of the total courses in the Biomedical Engineering curriculum, the programme is secondarily homed in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering Design Art and Technology (CEDAT).
In each of these host departments, the BME programme has a programme co-ordinator who is the direct link between the BME students and the department. The unit is entirely dedicated to the multifaceted Biomedical engineering program does not only bolster effectiveness but also enhance efficiency of service delivery in a bid to produce thoroughly trained and exposed technology healthcare revolutionists.
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The Vision
To be the leading centre of Biomedical engineering academics, innovation and research excellence in Africa.” Our vision subscribes to the Makerere University vision which is to be the leading institution for academic excellence and innovations in Africa.
The Mission
To seamlessly interface the biomedical sciences realm with the engineering field by engaging technological advancement through innovation, research and training to solve challenges in medicine.
Makerere University started the program of Biomedical Engineering in 2011 in response to the rapid growth of healthcare systems and the increasing role of technology in diagnostics, therapeutics and associated research activities.
This has culminated into an increasing demand for skilled biomedical engineers both in Uganda and globally. The MakBME unit is dedicated to satisfying this demand through research, healthcare technological innovations development and translation to market, training of the next generation of healthcare technologists, consultation and clinical engineering service delivery.
The Need for BME in Uganda:
Uganda as a nation is increasingly importing complex pieces of equipment to support health and health related research. Most of this equipment arrives without the accompanying care, maintenance and support. In some cases, the equipment specifications are not suited to local environment, which affects durability and use of this equipment. The graduates of this program are using their knowledge to reduce the costs of maintenance, wastage, loss of work hours from equipment downtime and other resources due to the current lack of this cadre of trainees on the market. In addition, these graduates are in position to advice on sourcing, procurement and preventive maintenance correctly specified for our environment thus making further savings to the country.
Current Works at MakBME:
To-date, the program has graduated over 119 students; majority of whom are employed in healthcare facilities and research and academic units across Uganda. Whereas the College of Health Sciences has over 30 collaborating institutions internationally and several locally there are two ongoing international collaborations with Duke University and Case Western Reserve University both focused on supporting the MakBME unit. These two have greatly contributed to the empowering of the unit through scholarships to staff to offer postgraduate studies and also exchange programs. Collaborative projects have also been initiated and these have extended to other universities like the University of Edniburg in Scotland UK, Harriot Watt University and University of British Columbia among others.
Since 2012, staff and students have globally competed in research and innovation grants, prizes and awards towards their projects. Some of these projects include the following but not limited to;
- Biomedical Engineering as a driver for improvement of quality healthcare in Africa. (GCRF Funded)
- Containing Design: Rethinking design instruction to support Biomedical Device Development for low-Income countries (Venturewell funded)
- Fit for Purpose, affordable body powered Protheses (GCRF Funded)
- Post Parterm Haemorrhage belt (GCC and Big Ideas funded)
- Early Preeclampsia Detection Strip (EPED Strip) (GCC, Big Ideas UC Berkeley and MakRIF Funded)
- Sustainable Professional Training and Mentorship for Improved Management of Medical Equipment in the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services. (THET Funded)
- Menstrual Champions (USAID/ Resilient Africa Network)
- D71: Planning grant Strengthening Ugandan Biomedical Engineering HIV/TB Human Resource Research Capacity (NIH Funded)
- UVSteriDevice: Use of UVC light as an alternative disinfection measure to reduce covid19 and nosocomial infections in Uganda (NRIP-MoSTI Funded)
- Lumenda: A device that provides an accurate and rapid method of diagnosing bacterial meningitis. (Big Ideas UC Berkely Funded)
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