George Ouma Otieno is an engineer working with the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). For his outstanding work, he has graced a number of forums to give insights on the sector including the State House Energy summit.
He also chairs the Kenya Innovators Society, which brings together more than 150 innovators.
Here is his career journey as told by WoK.
An interest in engineering
George developed interest in engineering at an early age. While in primary school, he spent his free time repairing wristwatches and old wooden radios for neighbours.
By the time he was joining high school, he had mastered how phones operate and was repairing people’s mobile phones. With all this knowledge, it was evident that he had a future in engineering.
After high school, he joined the University of Nairobi and pursued a Bachelors degree in electrical and electronic engineering.
Innovativeness and career
His innovativeness continued through university where he invented technology that got him recognized internationally.
Before graduating, he won the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE) competition and also patented his innovation.
He was ranked nationally in the 21st Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) international conference in 2014.
This gave him the chance to attend the World Engineering Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure (WECSI) in the same year in Abuja, Nigeria.
Before joining KPLC, he worked at Lucy Electric as a site engineer.
On 18th April 2023, KPLC celebrated him for leading power designs of a number of projects, such as the Sh6 billion Buxton Affordable housing project, Superior Homes and Vipingo Holiday Homes.
The engineer is the project lead for power design for a multi billion affordable housing estate in Mombasa commissioned in 2020 by former president Uhuru Kenyatta. He is responsible for the design and installation of power in all the 1,860 units in the estate.
Innovations
Over the years, he has come up with a number of innovations. One of them is a smart highway technology that enables the generation of power through the exertion of pressure by vehicles.
The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) was willing to try it at the pilot stage. While explaining the innovation, he said:
“Vehicles exert pressure on the roads and change this pressure into energy. Laser strips will get placed on the roads, converting the pressure into energy enough to light the street lights and provide power to the shops close to the highway,” George Ouma shared.
Another of his innovations is Magic camera which was recognized during World Engineering day.
The camera involves a fixed lens with multi-sensors that perform basic functions independently, requiring less power compared to traditional cameras with multiple lenses. The result is sharper images and more accurate images with faster stabilization.
