Project Progress Report

PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT The Applied Project Course has been successfully completed with the group meeting all its project objectives. The group managed to accomplish this through its continuous commitment towards the project. Tasks were assigned to each individual, at times in pairs and later on findings discussed in the group meetings. In the initial stages, the project moved at somewhat slow pace due to some constraints in data collection. In the first place, before we could collect data from the various University departments, there was a lot of bureaucracy in getting permission on behalf of the research group to allow us collect data in the University. Initially a letter had been drafted by the Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering on request to the Warden of the Hall who declined to offer us permission. He advised us to seek permission from the Dean of Students as he was the only person who could take on such a decision. On behalf of the group as the Chairman, I complied with the requirements, thanks to the Dean of Students for granting us permission to collect data for our group project. This gave the group a starting point for data collection. My individual contributions within the project included: collecting data for the project on blocks D and F of Mitchell Hall. The data included determining what electrical appliances students had, the electrical power ratings, how long the electrical appliances are run per day and the number of students in each room. The methods used for this task involved interviews, administering questionnaires and observations. The data collected was to enable the research group to achieve its objective of designing the solar energy system for the hall. By estimating how much energy was consumed for both lighting and heating, the research group would be able to size the solar modules required for solar thermal and PV system. I also led the group to the University Estates Department to collect data relating to electricity bills that the University has been paying for the previous years. This however, we found out that the University did not have proper records on electricity consumption. The University electrician advised us to visit Umeme offices in Kampala for the records after which I got involved in data processing to the required format to determine the annual electricity consumption for the hall. I also determined both biomass and LPG energy through calculations to enable the research group determine the annual energy consumption for Mitchell Hall. Furthermore, I took part in data analysis especially on the assessment of energy efficient options which included replacement of the traditional three stone stove with the improved institutional stove, and replacement of the incandescent bulbs with energy savers. I also took part in the literature survey for the project. This involved getting literature related to the subject matter such as energy production, and consumption in Uganda, trend of solar energy, LPG, grid electricity and biomass in Uganda. All this was to enable the research group to get a thorough insight into the subject matter. While some members were so fast in accomplishing their tasks for the better progress of the research project, others moved at somewhat slow pace which limited the fast

progress of the research group. One of the limitations that contributed to this was lack of good records at the Hall. Both the Hall and the Estates Department do not have a culture of record keeping; very little is recorded, the information is very scanty, and in some instances unreliable. Each of the members therefore had a task to compile his data that had been collected before finally presenting the data in the group meetings subject to discussions. In conclusion, the research was a good learning experience for me with my involvement as a team leader that enhanced my contributions towards the project. The research has also improved my ability to work as a team with people of varying ideas, ability, tamper etc. I attribute the success of the research group to the team work that the members showed.