MUBAS
MUBAS
School of Engineering
SOE
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Executive Dean, SOE
Prof Burnet Mkandawire
The Office of the Executive Dean, School of Engineering provides the strategic academic and administrative leadership for the School of Engineering. Acting as the chief academic and operational officer, the Executive Dean reports directly to the Deputy Vice Chancellor and is responsible for leading the Heads of Academic Departments and Centre Managers within the school.

Associate Professor Burnet Mkandawire is an Electromechanical Engineer and an Associate Professor of Engineering (Electric Power and Energy Systems), mainly in: grid and off-grid system design, maintenance and refurbishment; application of Systems-thinking theory in power systems; and modelling lifecycle of engineering/physical assets by augmenting probabilistic techniques with stochastic inferences to optimise end-of-life treatment options.


Mkandawire holds a Doctorate Degree in Electrical Engineering (Power and Energy Systems) from University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Howard College Campus, Durban, South Africa; and a Master of Science Degree in Engineering (Electric Power and Energy Systems) also from the UKZN, Westville Campus, Durban. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Malawi and a number of postgraduate diplomas and certificates in Maintenance Engineering Management (from Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany), Condition Based Maintenance (from Indian Institute for Production Management, Kansbahal, Orissa, India), Maintenance of Construction Machinery (from JICA-Tokyo, Japan), Climate System Analysis (from University of Cape Town - Climate Systems Analysis Group), and Teaching of Engineering in Technical Universities of Africa-Anglophone (from Ningbo Polytechnic, China).


Assoc. Prof. Mkandawire is a Professional Mechanical Engineer Registered by Malawi Engineering Institution (MEI) (PrEng. MEI), and a Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (MIEEE) of the USA. Besides, he is a Selected Registered Engineer (SRE) appointed by the MEI Board to supervise graduate engineers in the process of their professional registration. Mkandawire served twice as Head of Mechanical Engineering from 2012 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2020, respectively. He also served as a Senator in the University of Malawi Senate from 2016 to 2022. Prior to joining the University, he had a short stint with the Malawi Ministry of Transport and Public Works - Plant and Vehicle Hire Organization - where he worked as Regional Mechanical Engineer for the Southern Region of Malawi and, as Acting Deputy National Director/Controller.


Assoc. Prof. Mkandawire’s research interests are: Electric Power and Energy Systems (generation scheduling; reliability analysis of generation, transmission and distribution systems), economic power dispatch, ancillary services, and Power Infrastructure Asset Management. He has also taught, published and supervised postgraduate-student research in these areas. In addition, he has taught the following courses at undergraduate level: Automobile Electrical and Electronic Systems, Distribution Networks and Machines, Power Economics and Trade, Energy Management and Audit, Computer Applications (MATLAB and LABVIEW Programming), Mechanical Science, Strength of Materials, Solid Mechanics, and Engineering and Society. He has been a reviewer of Electric Power Systems Research (EPSR) - Reliability Engineering and System Safety (RESS) Journal published in Switzerland; and IEEE Systems Journal published in the USA. From 2018 to date, he has served in the Doctoral Committee at University of Rwanda’s African Centre of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACE-ESD), where he has also supervised PhD candidates who successfully defended their theses; and orally examined 11 PhD candidates. In addition, Assoc. Prof. Mkandawire has supervised postgraduate students at PhD and Masters (MSc/MPhil) level within Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. Furthermore, he served as an external examiner of PhD theses for University of KwaZulu-Natal, Masters Dissertation for Durban University of Technology, and undergraduate degree programmes at Malawi University of Science and Technology.


Assoc. Prof. Mkandawire has conducted over 74 industrial outreaches and consultancies for public and private sectors in Malawi and Mozambique, notably in the following areas/fields: energy-supply-options modelling, condition monitoring, energy auditing, Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM), climate resilience building, automobile engineering, fleet management, operational risk assessment, hydraulics and pneumatics; and machine design, layout and maintenance.

Full Biography – Executive Dean, SOE
0111871637
bmkandawire@mubas.ac.mw

Background

The School of Engineering comprises four aspects of engineering namely: electrical, mechanical, civil, and mining engineering. The School, therefore, is responsible for transferring knowledge and skills to produce professionals with skills and competencies in these different engineering fields. Essentially, the School provides teaching, learning, research, consultancy, and outreach services in civil, electrical, mechanical, and mining engineering. Additionally, the School has special expertise in research, consultancies, and outreach services in transport technologies. It is also responsible for the enhancement of creativity and innovations among staff and students to ensure that they come up with new innovations. The school has expertise in engineering technical services such as motor vehicle repairs, manufacturing, welding and fabrication, material testing, and consultancies which as income generating for the sustainability of the school. New and dynamic programs such as biomedical, chemical and energy engineering are also part the catalogue of the program under offer to its student.

Academic Members of Staff

Some of the more prolific researchers at MUBAS are in the School of Engineering. They are engaged in collaborative research, research that is not only academic but also practical. Indeed, some of their research has won awards for innovation; some has been published in renown international academic journals. Besides, they are also, at heart, teachers. The academic members of staff in this school have made great efforts to ensure that their school keeps up with socio-economic developments within Malawi, giving students the opportunity to enroll in programs that are relevant. So, for instance, the relatively recent establishment of the Department of Mining Engineering is an acknowledgement that Malawi needs professionals with such expertise if it is to grow its fledgling mining sector. Going into the future, it is the young professionals trained that will ensure that Malawi’s infrastructural and other engineering needs are met. 

Centres

Again, it speaks to the prominence of the School of Engineering at the university that it officially has no less than three centres at MUBAS—Water, Sanitation, Health and Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), Transport and Technology Transfer (T2) Centre, and the Polytechnic Commercial and Technical Services Centre (PCTS). WASHTED is a co-ownership arrangement with the Faculty of Applied Sciences, and the centre is engaged in research in areas such as solar energy, among many others. The T2 Centre is involved in the area of logistics, broadly defined. It focuses on practical research to solve real-world logistical challenges, focussing on durable and safe logistical infrastructure. Last but not least is the PCTS. Primarily an automotive engineering workshop, it is open to the public, and it offers various technical services at a fee.