Creating People-centric Systems

Organized transport systems and western countries seem to go hand in hand, from trains to functioning traffic lights, to buses where you can swipe a card to pay for your fare. We admire these systems. However, few realize that, in London’s Imperial College, a Kenyan is enabling the continuous efficiency of European transport. Professor Washington Ochieng is passionate about creating systems of transport that are accessible, reliable, affordable, safe and secure.

Professor calls Kendu Bay home. He attended Kisumu Technical High School where his passion for all things engineering began to flourish. Following secondary, he attended UoN, where he graduated with First Class Honors in Engineering. Deciding to pursue a graduate degree in the United Kingdom, his diligent study saw him accepted to the University of Nottingham, where he completed his Masters and PhD in Space Geodesy. He stayed on at the university, later moving to Imperial College, where he now serves as the head of the Centre for Transport Studies. In 2013, he was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

One of Prof Ochieng’s first forays onto the international scene was the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS). EGNOS is a system which supplements a group of satellite-based navigation systems by reporting on how reliable and accurate their positioning data is and sending out corrections based on these calculations. After EGNOS came Galileo, which is Europe’s own specialized global navigation satellite system; it went live in 2016 and is set to reach full operational capability this year. Through his work, Professor Ochieng greatly increased the positional accuracy of this and other global navigation satellite systems.

He was also involved in the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) – the research arm of the SESAR joint undertaking, which is a public-private partnership which exists to reconstruct European airspace and its air traffic management (ATM). Above all, Prof. Washington has been instrumental in the decongestion of the streets of London. Despite these achievements, his heart still loves his country. Prof has and continues to partner with different Kenyan universities, and he has advised the government on ways to decongest Nairobi.

One of his more recent projects is the development of sensor data fusion for self-driving vehicles. Sensor data fusion enables these machines to make smart, safe and efficient decisions as they execute the tasks they are programed for. A car enhanced by this research would be much safer than many of the cars we drive. This great Kenyan mind will transform the world of technology.

Professor Washington Ochieng’s systems are driven by his desire to make transport more efficient for the good of the people. He has come to understand that, for people and economies to flourish, transport systems must be well thought-out. His interests center on intelligent traffic control and designing air, land and maritime transport systems that can serve the people.

Prof is showing the world that Kenyans are indeed pacesetters globally. We wonder what other scientific breakthroughs he makes within this lifetime!

#KeDiaspora