The spotlight is on Peter Njeru Njue, University of Nairobi, Kenya.

The University of Nairobi, the most prestigious university in Kenya, offers 236 academic programs in 10 faculties distributed over 11 campuses. It has 2,200 academic staff and 45,000 students.

The Faculty of the Built Environment and Design covers the disciplines of architecture, quantity surveying, valuation, property and facilities management, land management, construction management, planning, nuclear science, and art and design. The faculty strives to equip students and teachers with cutting-edge learning resources for launching highly qualified professionals into the job market.

Within the faculty, Peter Njeru Njue is Chairman of the Department of Real Estate, Construction Management, and Quantity Surveying. The department caters to 1,300 students drawn from Kenya, East Africa, and beyond, pursuing diverse degree programs at bachelor and post-graduate levels.

Njeru Njue holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Nairobi and a master’s of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, UK. He is a Green Star Associate and an EDGE expert, credentials demonstrating excellence in sustainable building design and construction.

In early 2023, Njeru Njue steered the university into reactivating its Oracle Academy Institutional membership in order to benefit from the Oracle Primavera P6 Professional Project Management Fundamentals curriculum and resources.

He now oversees the usage of Oracle Primavera for second year students concentrating on construction management, civil engineering project planning, cost control, and associated disciplines.

Oracle Academy: How did you come to select Primavera P6 for your construction management classes?

Peter Njeru Njue: I came across Primavera P6 through an initiative in which students of mine met with Oracle Kenya and raised the subject of resources for being more effective in the field of built environment and design. That interaction led to discussions with the Oracle Academy Country Manager, who informed us that Oracle Academy was willing to provide, at no cost, Primavera P6 to advance our project management teaching.

It was a fortuitous meeting, because initially we had been reluctant to approach industry software giants such as Oracle, believing that their concern was with large-scale industry. How wrong we were! We were thrilled to find they were as interested in supporting us as we were in deploying the latest and most competitive project management software in the market.

Watch this video, where Peter Njeru Njue describes working with Oracle Academy.

Oracle Academy: What are your plans for making use of Primavera more widespread within the Faculty of the Built Environment and Design?

Peter Njeru Njue: Exactly that, making it widespread. I’ve been talking to numerous lecturers in some of the units requiring project management and their uptake looks assured. My goal is to have Primavera fully embedded in the curriculum of the department that I manage. In fact, it has come smack at the right time because the Ministry of Education has directed higher education institutions to adopt the system of Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) teaching. The CBC initiative emphasizes the use of resources that focus on graduating students with industry-relevant skills, and less on academic theory. It coincides with a shortening of the graduate cycle from four to three years.

Oracle Academy: Great. And how did you get your lecturers up to speed?

Peter Njeru Njue: I assigned eight of our academic staff to Oracle Academy training. Five of them, those with basic construction and project management knowledge, have spearheaded the rollout of Primavera P6. The other three, better equipped in Real Estate and Property Management teaching, will put their training into practice once we nail down the integration of Primavera across the department, and the faculty.

But lecturers are not the only resource we intend to use for disseminating Primavera; students as well.

Oracle Academy: Can you enlighten us?

Peter Njeru Njue: Yes. Our goal is to graduate students who can be competitive in construction management. To this end, we are immersing second year students in the Oracle Academy projects that come with the Primavera resources.

The idea is that as soon as we have a good cohort of expert students, we can use them to train up others. My vision is to have 100% of my students fully knowledgeable in Primavera P6 so that we can introduce it as early as possible, in year one if possible. The earlier they master project management software, the better off they’ll be in the long run. We are having that discussion right now.

Oracle Academy: Intriguing. What do you see as the main benefits of having Primavera as a teaching resource?

Peter Njeru Njue: A myriad of benefits — for teaching and learning and also for the reputation of the university.

Lecturers have access to the latest in project management enhancements; students obviously reap the same benefits. Primavera with Oracle Academy has transformed our learning environment, making it more dynamic, relevant, and aligned with the ever-evolving needs of the built environment and engineering industry.

For teachers, the Oracle Academy Member Hub has made grading and assessment much easier too. The platform allows lecturers to track students' progress, engagement, and performance in real time. This helps to identify areas where students might need additional support and tailor the teaching accordingly.

And on the academic side, by incorporating Oracle Academy into our curriculum, our department gains recognition as an institution that prepares students for the demands of the construction industry. It boosts the reputation of both the department and the university. This is important because we are the highest ranked university in Kenya* and want to maintain that position.

Oracle Academy: What else can you tell us about the resources offered by Oracle Academy?

Peter Njeru Njue: One very interesting feature is the Oracle Academy Career Center, which is a job-focused learning resource where member institution students and educators have free access to professional training and certification opportunities across all of Oracle’s learning pathways.

I have created over 110 accounts for my students to access modules such as Project Management Explorer, Primavera P6 Professional, and Business Analytics Expert. What I find very useful is the Career Center’s ability to make connections between the core academic curriculum and the learner’s desired career path.

This means that students pursuing degrees in construction and civil engineering who have a keen interest in fields such as cloud technology or software development can readily access the relevant curriculum, allowing them to study at their own pace and explore these areas of interest for free.

Oracle Academy: That’s great. Do you also encourage networking with other institutions using Primavera?

Peter Njeru Njue: Oracle Academy’s courses often involve collaboration and group projects. This provides students with opportunities to network with their peers, share insights, and learn from each other's experiences. A case in point was the Oracle Academy hands-on training workshop on Oracle Primavera P6 hosted at our university in commemoration of the World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development. This interactive session drew participation from over 400 students, not just from the University of Nairobi, but from five other universities. It was an honor having the University’s Vice-chancellor and the Oracle Kenya Country Leader open the workshop.

Oracle Academy: And although you only began using Primavera this year, how do you see career prospects for your students?

Peter Njeru Njue: As a matter of fact, there’s good news. Already 12 students were immediately employed this summer thanks to their Primavera skill sets. That shows how effective this program has been and why I am pushing other departments to adopt the resources. Those twelve have become references, if you like.

One of the students was hired by the project team driving development of a brand-new city, Tatu City, a 5,000-acre special economic zone located 20 kilometers north of Nairobi. When the team leader saw that the student had Primavera P6 project management skills, he hired him on the spot.

They needed someone capable of tracking and monitoring projects. Kenya has traditionally lagged in completing projects on time and within budget. Primavera graduates are in high demand.

In addition, all of our students gain a competitive edge in receiving the Oracle Academy Primavera course completion certificates that validate their skills and knowledge, making them stand out among other candidates. As a result, most of our recent graduates have successfully secured internships or paid positions within the built environment industry.

Oracle Academy: Good to hear that. And so apart from disseminating Primavera across the Built Environment and Design Faculty, do you have other plans?

Peter Njeru Njue: Allow me first to state how very thankful I am to be working with Oracle Academy to improve and enhance the knowledge of modern software such as Primavera P6, a cutting edge that helps students to be more competitive in the market. And, indeed, we will be embedding this in all appropriate curriculum delivered by the University of Nairobi.

My wish is that in the future, when I am no longer chairman of the department — for hundreds of years more! — Oracle Academy resources will continue to be used in our teaching. I envisage a global academy in which students share experiences and best practices for greater impact.

The idea is to connect universities around the world that use Oracle Academy resources, and this could be the genesis of students from one country spending six months in another country working on a project — seeing how Primavera is used in different geographies and circumstances.

In my vision, visibility and usage of Primavera would be immeasurably enhanced in construction management, real estate, and related environments.

Oracle Academy: Quite a vision! Tell us, what interests do you have outside of running the department?

Peter Njeru Njue: Apart from being chairman of the department and a lecturer, I mostly focus on sustainable building construction. I am certified on the International Finance Corporation (IFC), EDGE green building software; on Princeton Parallel’s green computing systems; and I recently have worked on several environmentally friendly projects. In fact, last year I received one Kenyan and one international award for green building projects.

In respect of the university, I have spearheaded the planting of 1,000 trees in our department as a way of mitigating climate change. I am also involved in a project to decarbonize the building in which our department resides. It was built in 1973, 50 years ago and, with funds from the IFC, we are remodeling its current energy and water consumption to achieve net zero carbon. We are enthusiastic about deploying Oracle Primavera’ s resource management capabilities to enhance the effective allocation and utilization of project resources. This includes human resources, materials, and equipment. Efficient resource management can lead to optimized project timelines and reduced energy consumption and waste, contributing to environmental sustainability.

In fact, I would like my department to take the lead in decarbonizing all public buildings in Kenya. Another ambitious idea!

Otherwise, I enjoy long distance driving. Usually, I do that in combination with site visits, but in general I find driving through Kenya to be very relaxing.

* https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/university-nairobi

Thank you, Peter Njeru Njue, for your passion for Oracle Academy and for preparing your students to make a positive impact.