Prof. Washington Ochieng Calls for Digital Tools and New Engineering Approaches to Build Sustainable Cities

Prof. Washington Yotto Ochieng of Imperial College London opened the 2026 Aggrey–Fraser–Guggisberg Memorial Lectures by exploring what sustainability means for cities and how building smart, resilient urban environments requires understanding the complex interactions between people, infrastructure, technology and governance.

He walked the audience through the need for multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches and collaboration between academia, industry, government and society to tackle long-standing urban challenges.

During his lecture, Prof. Ochieng highlighted initiatives such as Higher Education Partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa (HEPSA), which promotes collaborative research, student-industry placements and curriculum development to strengthen engineering education and capacity in Africa. He also introduced the use of digital tools, parametric planning and “digital twins” to model urban systems, predict infrastructure performance and explore sustainability outcomes.

He stressed the importance of embracing emerging technologies such as Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) to ensure cities are both sustainable and fit-for-purpose.

Chairing the session was Naa Dr. Alhassan Andani, member of the University Council. Also present were Vice-Chancellor Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Pro VC-ASA Prof. Gordon Awandare, Registrar Mrs. Emelia Agyei-Mensah, Provosts, Deans, Directors, faculty, students  and institutional partners.