My journey into tech

My name is Diana Najjuma and I am a software engineering graduate from Makerere University. Growing up, I did not have as much exposure to technology. I grew up in a small Ugandan village where people traveled miles to access an internet cafe and having a Facebook account was a status symbol.

My fascination for technology birthed itself during my senior 1 in 2012 when I used to spend night preps at the back section of the Trinity College Nabbingo library reading astronomy books and historical achievements by the greatest physicians of all time (tags Nikola Tesla).

Six years down the road, when the time came for me to choose a career path, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in tech. I enrolled in Makerere University’s software engineering program and spent the next four years learning everything I could about programming, data structures, algorithms, and software design.

Throughout my time at the university, I participated in various hackathons and coding competitions. These experiences allowed me to apply what I had learned in class to real-world problems and develop my problem-solving skills. I also joined several tech communities like Google Developer Student clubs(GDSC) and Women TechMakers Kampala, where I met like-minded individuals who shared my passion for technology.

When it came to choosing programming languages, I was all over the place; trying out everything from Java to Python, C, PHP, etc. I also participated in the Google Africa Developer Scholarship program where I learned android development.

Towards the beginning of the 2020 covid19 lockdown, I applied for an internship at Pegasus Technologies, one of the leading companies in financial technology where I got accepted. Unfortunately, I was not able to pursue the placement due to the lockdown. I then opted for a remote internship with Makerere Air Lab in the field of Data Science as I had applied there as well. It was such a great experience exploring data, cultivating machine learning models, and entangling artificial intelligence.

After the lockdown, the Ugandan economy hit really hard on everyone, myself included, survival was for the fittest. I had just bought a new laptop at the time. I ventured into web development as all required resources were available on the internet. Youtube and Pluralsight were my best friends at the time. I built websites for several companies and this paid off wholesomely, both financially and socially.

Towards my final university exams, I got a paid apprenticeship with Geospatial Data and Computational Intelligence Lab at Makerere University where I worked as a Software Engineer and Research Assistant on a project; "Holicare". The project was aimed at building a healthcare tool for diagnosing Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Subsaharan Africa.

At the start of 2023, around mid-January, I applied for an after-school internship with Fundi Bots where I got accepted. I was privileged to work alongside brilliant minds and be mentored by the best in the field of robotics (Electronics, Programming & Mechanics). This was also the beginning of a startup that I am yet to unleash in future blogs.😁

My tech journey has been filled with ups and downs, but I wouldn't change a thing. I am grateful for the diverse opportunities I have had and the people who have helped me along the way. I hope to continue growing and learning in this field for many years to come.

#womenwhotech