A weekly hands-on design community at Makerere University CEDAT. We meet every week in Room 3004 to master SolidWorks, tackle real-world engineering problems and prepare for national and international design competitions.
Featured Discipline
Precision Mechanical Systems
Active Members
150+
Weekly Sessions Run
120+
CAD/CAE Tools Taught
8+
150+
Active Members
120+
Weekly Sessions Run
8+
CAD/CAE Tools Taught
12+
Competitions Entered
We are not a casual study group. MDN exists to push every member from sketcher to industry-ready engineer through deliberate practice, honest critique and real-world projects.
Every week in Room 3004 we model a new component, run an FEA study or solve a real-design brief together. Show up, build, get feedback.
Year-3 and Year-4 designers run the workshops. Founding members are still active. The path from beginner to lead is walked beside you, not in front of you.
We assemble and coach competition teams every academic year, with finalist placements at major Ugandan engineering challenges.
GD&T, DFM, sheet-metal, weldments, FEA, drawings to ASME Y14.5. The skills your industrial-training supervisor will actually expect of you.
Templates, drawing standards, session recordings, reference models and study guides curated by members and pinned for the long term.
Daily design questions, weekly session announcements, internship leads and a direct line to alumni working in industry.
From first-year students to alumni now working in industry, here is what the Room 3004 community has meant to them.
“MDN is more than a club. The weekly sessions taught me how to think like an engineer — to model, simulate, iterate and defend a design. I carry that habit into every project I do today.”
Ronald Mugerwa
Design Engineer · MDN Alumni 2024 · Independent Consultant, Kampala
“The SolidWorks workshops gave me the confidence to walk into my industrial training already productive. My supervisor said I was operating at the level of a graduate engineer in week one. That all came from MDN.”
Patience Auma
Year 3, Mechanical Engineering · Makerere University CEDAT
“I was one of seven people at the very first session in March 2022. Watching MDN grow into a 150-strong community with national competition wins has been the most rewarding thing I’ve been part of at university.”
Joel Kakembo
Founding Member · MDN Alumni · Mechanical Engineer at Roofings Group
“What MDN built is rare — a student community that takes engineering rigour seriously. The design reviews are honest, the mentorship is real, and the work members produce is genuinely industry-grade.”
Dr. Aisha Nakimuli
Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering · Makerere University CEDAT
“I joined MDN in my second year barely knowing how to extrude a sketch. Two years later I led our team’s entry at the national engineering design competition. Room 3004 changed my entire trajectory.”
Brian Ssemakula
Year 4, Mechanical Engineering · Makerere University CEDAT
Engineering lessons, weekly recaps and the journey of MDN members from first session to industry. Written by us, for us.
Engineering PracticeMost student drawings still rely on plus-minus tolerances. Here are the five GD&T symbols every MDN member should be using by the end of Year 3.
Member StoriesPatience joined MDN in Year 2 with zero CAD experience. By the start of Year 3 she had a paid internship at a top engineering firm. Here is what changed.
CompetitionsA six-week sprint, two prototypes, one all-nighter in Room 3004 and a finalist position. Here is how the MDN competition team did it.
Bring your laptop, a coffee and an open mind. Room 3004, CEDAT, every Saturday at 9:00 AM. New members welcome — zero CAD experience required.
