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UPPC@120: Receives Engineering Students

Industrial-Student-Visit

UPPC@120: Corporation Receives Engineering Students for Industrial Tour

The Uganda Publishing and Printing Corporation (UPPC) on Tuesday hosted Kampala International University (KIU- Ishaka campus) and Thursday hosted students from Kyambogo University engineering society students for an industrial tour at its head offices in Entebbe.

The visits are part of the Corporation’s 120 years celebratory activities. More than 60 students from the two institutions visited the UPPC Entebbe headquarters factory, where they toured all printing sections. They were able to see decades old printing machines as well as other much older machines which the Corporation used for printing in the 1960s. UPPC, one of the oldest institutions in the country, was started by the British colonial government printer in 1902.

UPPC Ag. Managing Director; Kenneth Oluka said the visits are meant to enable the young generations to learn and appreciate the history of the printing industry. “Giving chance to the young generation to learn from an old institution is an opportunity to equip them with the practical skills from an institution that has embraced the evolving of technology in the industry’’, he said

“The students had a glance at old and new machinery, interacted and obtained knowledge from experts who have operated these technologies for decades,” he added.

Mr. Kisembo Stephen, one of UPPC trainers who took the visiting students through some of the machine functionality informed them that it is crucial to understand the past and learn from it. He explained how printing used to be done pre-colonial and post-colonial era.

 ‘’During the colonial time, typing was done by joining metallic letters by hand, that meant putting letter by letter to make a word, joining words to make sentences, until a document was complete’’ Mr. Kisembo explained.

“Mechanical typesetting came in, where typing was being done by monotype and intertype machines resulting in fast typesetting. The monotype and intertype machines were used to cast type from hot metal composed of lead. A few computers started coming in but of low-capacity input and low speed,’’ he added.

From 1993 to date, Kisembo told students that high quality Mackintosh and Microsoft Computers were acquired, easing typing.  Other technology crucial in the printing industry, he said included use of cameras to make films of papers which were supposed to be printing. “The use of darkroom cameras would photograph information from typeset copy to make a negative film, transfer the image to a negative plate, plate to paper. This process was faster and with lighter pages. With the developed technology, machines such as folding machines, perfect mina binder, pressing machines, perforating machines, guillotine cutting machines, have enhanced the printing and publishing process’’ he said.

Mr. Ogwal Emmanuel, an engineering lecturer at KIU who accompanied the learners thanked UPPC for giving their learners a chance to learn from an experienced institution. ‘’We thank UPPC for, according to KIU, an opportunity to bring in our students to have practical experience of what we theoretically teach them. This is a golden opportunity for both the institution and learners’’ he said.

As part of the Corporation’s social responsibility to the nation, UPPC is committed to continue engaging in initiatives that add value to the young generation. The Corporation shall continue to accord practical learning opportunities to other institutions while benchmarking on its experience in the printing and publishing industry. There are plans to host more engineering institutions such as Makerere, Nkumba, International University of East Africa among others.

About UPPC

UPPC’s head office is located along Airport Road in Entebbe, with a major outlet in Kampala City at Airways House. There are regional presence outlets in Mbale, Jinja, Hoima, Mbarara, Fort Portal and Kapchorwa among others. For details about the Corporation and the UPPC @120 years celebrations activities; visit UPPC website on www.uppc.go.ug or directly use WhatsApp number; 0783914332.