Miriam Sebaggala, born Miriam Muwanga (died 10 May 1975) was an

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, who came to prominence as a member of the

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

. After training in England, she returned to Uganda and worked in a variety of roles for the Ugandan Electricity Board, as well as editing the organisation's journal.

Biography

Whilst little is known about Muwanga's early life, she joined the Women's Engineering Society (WES) in 1965 as a graduate member. She was working at Associated Electronics Industries, which later became Metropolitan Vickers, as a special trainee, whilst studying at John Dalton College of Technology, now

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...

, for a Higher National Certificate. During her time there she worked on the electrics of suburban trams. Her obituary in ''The Woman Engineer'' stated that she chose electrical engineering over nursing as her career due to her "great desire to give herself to help others ... her country and her people". In 1968 she became a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers. Active in the WES, in 1971 she was a committee member of the WES's London branch. She also worked at the Second

International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists ICWES (International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists) is an international conference for engineers and scientists. Established in 1964, it takes place every 3–4 years in countries around the world. Since 1999, the conference has bee ...

, which was held in Cambridge, as well as at the third conference in Turin. On her return to Uganda she worked for the Ugandan Electricity Board as an Electricity Design Assistant, then later as a Transmission Engineer and Street Lighting Supervisor. In 1974, she became the editor of the Journal of the Uganda Electricity Board. Whilst

Proscovia Margaret Njuki Proscovia Margaret Njuki is a Ugandan electrical engineer and civil servant. Effective 24 November 2016, she serves as the chairperson of the board of directors of Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL). She replaced Stephen Isabal ...

is often described as Uganda's first female electrical engineer, Muwanga was active in the field several years earlier.

Personal life

Muwanga married in 1968 and her daughter, Kulabata, was born on 1 September 1974. She died on 10 May 1975 in a car crash in Kampala, Uganda, a crash which hospitalised her baby daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muwanga, Miriam Year of birth unknown 21st-century Ugandan women engineers 21st-century Ugandan engineers Ugandan electrical engineers Women's Engineering Society 1975 deaths 20th-century Ugandan women writers 20th-century Ugandan writers 20th-century women engineers Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University