Welcome to My Personal Webpage!
Senior Physicist & Astrophysicist; Head Astrophysics and Space Science, Department of Physics, University of Nairobi
Dr. G. O. Okeng’o is a Senior Faculty member and Head of Astrophysics and Space Science at the department of physics at University of Nairobi. He is former postdoctoral fellow at Inter-University Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Pune, India and the immediate Coordinator at The Kenya Science Campus, College of Education, University of Nairobi. He holds a PhD in Astrophysics (Cosmology) from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), in South Africa, an Msc in Astrophysics from the University of Cape town (UCT), South Africa & UWC, an Honors in Astrophysics and Space Science from UCT, and a Bsc Honors degree in Physics from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He is the founder and current Head of the fast growing University of Nairobi Astrophysics Research Group that comprises of 14 members currently, largely from his pool of PhD and Msc students. Dr. Okeng’o is a very multi-disciplinary, and cross-cutting scientist with research interests spanning broad areas, ranging from Theoretical Physics, Theoretical and Observational Astrophysics, Cosmology, Applied Nuclear Science, Quantum Computing and Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual and Augmented Reality and Physics Education Teaching Technologies. He is the Founder and Coordinator of The Scientific Computing Academy at the Department of Physics, University of Nairobi, The UoN-Astro Night etc. He currently serves as the Chairman and Executive Member of the East African Astronomical Society (EAAS) and Chairman of the Departmental Postgraduate Seminars, Department of Physics, University of Nairobi.
Dr. Okeng’o is the Founder & Principal Investigator of the African Universities Academic MOOCs Network, Knowledge Officer at the African Union GMES & African Academic Network (GAAN). He has served in many national roles such as the National Lead Judge (Science & Technology) at the Kenya Secondary Schools Education Fair (KSEF), Ministry of Education, Science & Technology and The Kenya Golden Climate Olympiad annual competition involving 50+ countries, the Light International School & Academy, Nairobi.
He also served as an Astrophysics Consultant for the DreamMaker Travels, Texas, U.S.A from 2018 to 2020 and currently serves as a Physics Judge in the North Carolina State Students Academy of Sciences (NCSAS). For much more, you are welcome to consult his CV!
Science Overview
My latest publications are in the news! They span across basic theoretical and applied physics including nuclear, stellar astrophysics, cosmology, planetary & solar system physics, quantum computing, amongst others.
Research
My research interests are very broad, ranging from theoretical and applied physics, astrophysics, quantum computing and general physics. I am a member of the GMES and Africa, East African Astronomical Society, SKA Africa, African University MOOCs Network, East African Astronomical Society etc. I am involved in supervision of a number of graduate research projects, and recently developing research interests in applications of VR and AR technologies in teaching abstract physics and engineering concepts.
Outreach
In the last 12 years, I have spearheaded, organized, facilitated and coordinated several science outreach activities and events within and outside the University of Nairobi. I'm the founder and Patron of the UoN-Astro Night Event, a monthly series of public lectures, sky-viewing and astro-related experience for the public. I have served as a mentor and resource person for various high schools in Kenya and beyond. I currently serve as a Judge in Physics and Technology at the North Carolina Student Academy of Science (NCSAS), in the State of North Carolina, USA.