Without vision people loose direction and so does the entire nation as it is the guiding light and inspiration. The Nation of Uganda is blessed to have a Vision for its people that will see them from a peasant society to a modern and prosperous nation by 2040. By all means this "Cathedral" Vision that only those who live long will live to see. As the builders of the Cathedral in the early centuries, the people who dug the foundation never got a chance to see the fully completed structure as it took hundreds of years to build but without the foundation there would be nothing for builders to build on.

For our society to transcend from a peasant society to modern society, men and women will have to rise up to the challenge and offer services beyond self. Some of those men and women who are a subject of this article are Engineers.To elaborate more on the role engineers will play in attainment of our 2040 Vision, here are some key targets of our 2040 Vision

Uganda's Target for 2040

Vision 2040 Targets (Source : http://www.erb.go.ug/)

* Gross Domestic Product is the monetary value of goods and services that are produced with in the territorial boundaries of a country with in a given period of time

Strategies and Key Foundamentals

To achieve the above mentioned targets, strategies have to be in place these include Export Orientation Growth, Industrialization, Urbanization, Competitiveness, Environmental Sustainability as well as Good governance

Achieving vision 2040 will require the strengthening of certain foundamentals of our economy to harness the opportunity, here are some foundamental aspects of our economy that engineer will tap into such as Transport, Energy, Science and Technology and Human resource among others as shown in this pictorial

Some of the key foundamentals infrastructure developements for Uganda to achieve Vision 2040

It is thus evident that an engineer will play such a pivotal role in the attainment of these targets because
Engineers provide the bridge between science and society and sustainable economic development relies on technological change to achieve its aims.

So what role will engineers play? 

Engineers are creators and designers,fashioners and builders as they have this very artistic and imaginative mind as they can draw from the colors of the past and paint the future. So here are some key roles engineers will play

1. Engineers will play a very crucial role in power and energy,oil, water supply, transportation, environment, housing, railways, roads, highways and bridges, irrigation, telecommunications, airports and harbours, information technology and scores of other specializations and sub-sections therein
2. Engineers shall be at the core of planning infrastructure / industries that will transform this country from a peasant national to a rich and prosperous country
3. Engineers shall be at the center of raising the country's level of technology and fostering transformation through Latest Technology adaption and application in the various spheres of this country
4. Engineers will be core in the enhancement of Uganda's competitiveness with global advancement in design and specification standards
5. Everything rises and falls on Leadership, Engineers shall play a very crucial role in leadership in engineering and technology sectors

For every engineering student as well as aspiring students, the opportunities in driving this nation to higher heights are immense but will only favor the prepared.It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than have one and not be prepared for when the cameras roll to document "The Men that Built Uganda" engineers shall surely feature along side noble men and women from other disciplines.