The heart of our knowledge-sharing mission
Workshops and seminars have been CAMNEST-UK's flagship activity since the network was founded. They are where our community actually meets — where a rail systems engineer from Birmingham, a pharmaceutical scientist from Cambridge and a final-year civil engineering student from Buea find themselves in the same room, comparing notes on problems that matter to both countries.
We run three distinct formats, each with its own purpose. Together they form a continuous professional development calendar that members can rely on throughout the year.
Monthly technical workshops
On the second Saturday of every month, a member or invited expert leads a hands-on technical workshop. Recent sessions have covered photovoltaic system sizing for off-grid communities, an introduction to BIM workflows for small consultancies, practical machine learning for infrastructure monitoring, and water quality testing on a shoestring budget. Workshops are deliberately practical: attendees leave with a worked example, a template or a tool they can apply on Monday morning.
Sessions are hosted at partner university venues in London, Manchester and Birmingham, and every workshop is simultaneously streamed and recorded. Recordings are added to our cloud learning library, where they become teaching material for partner institutions in Cameroon — so a two-hour session in London keeps delivering value in Douala and Bamenda for years.
Career development seminars
Technical excellence alone does not build a career in the UK. Our quarterly career seminars address the professional landscape our members navigate: routes to chartership with the Engineering Council, preparing competency reports for CEng and IEng registration, understanding the UK visa and sponsorship system for STEM roles, negotiating salaries, and transitioning from academia into industry. Sessions are led by members who have made these journeys themselves, often joined by representatives from professional institutions and employers.
The annual CAMNEST-UK symposium
Once a year, the whole network gathers for a full-day symposium in London. The symposium combines keynote lectures, a student poster competition, project showcases from our pilot engineering schemes and a partnership forum where UK institutions and Cameroonian universities explore new collaborations. It is the single best day of the year to understand what this community is capable of — and many of our most successful projects began as a conversation over lunch at the symposium.
Who can attend
Members attend all workshops and seminars free of charge, and student members are actively encouraged to present. Non-members are welcome at selected open sessions for a small contribution towards venue costs — and most join the network shortly afterwards. If you would like to propose a topic or lead a session, our programme committee reviews proposals on a rolling basis; first-time speakers are paired with an experienced facilitator for support.
What you gain
- Twelve technical workshops a year, in person and streamed, with recordings on demand
- Quarterly career seminars on chartership, registration and UK professional life
- An annual symposium with presentation and networking opportunities
- CPD attendance certificates recognised by major UK professional institutions
- A platform to build your profile as a speaker and subject-matter expert
Every session strengthens the same loop: members grow professionally, the network's shared library grows deeper, and institutions in Cameroon receive a steady stream of current, applied engineering knowledge.
Join CAMNEST-UK to Attend