Writing
How I solve problems with limited resources, make technical decisions, and build teams and a company.
20 posts, newest first
2026
/ Leadership
From an Excel tool to leading teams that build software
In 2019 my first software was an Excel report tool for my school's teachers. Seven years later I lead technology teams. What carried over between the two.
/ AI, part 3 of 3
An AI customer support centre that speaks Kinyarwanda
My capstone was an AI customer support centre that answers on the web and by phone, in English and Kinyarwanda. I defended it on 12 June 2026.
2025
/ Blockchain, part 2 of 2
Medseal: medical records on the blockchain
Medseal, built with UWAYEZU Jean Felix and TURIKUMWENIMANA Daniel, took third place and $500 at the Africa Blockchain Festival hackathon in November 2025.
/ AI, part 2 of 3
Tryit, AI virtual try-on, and graduating with First Class
ISHIMWE Lea and I built Tryit, an AI system that lets you try on clothes from a photo, for our diploma. On 29 May 2025 I graduated with First Class.
2024
/ AI, part 1 of 3
Ndengera: second place at the RISA innovation challenge
On 18 December 2024 Ndengera, our chatbot supporting people facing gender-based violence, took second place and 1.5M Frw at the RISA challenge.
/ Blockchain, part 1 of 2
From third place to first in two blockchain hackathons
In 2024 our team took third place and 200,000 Frw with an estate planning platform on ICP, then won the ICP Rwanda Hackathon and 500,000 Frw with TransFund.
/ Messaging
What building an SMPP server taught me about reliability
An internship at MISTA introduced me to messaging gateways. Then, as Infrastructure Manager at Trust SMS Uganda, I built a custom SMPP server.
2023
/ Uruziga, part 4 of 4
Pitching Uruziga: first place, and where the prize went
On 20 March 2023 UWAYEZU Jean Felix and I pitched Uruziga at the Youth Innovation Challenge finals. We won first place and 3,000,000 Frw for HDEV TECH.
/ RASMS, part 5 of 5
Putting RASMS online, and leading the innovation club
In January 2023 RASMS went online so teachers could work together remotely, and I became leader of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Club.
2022
/ Uruziga, part 3 of 4
Third place at the TVET Youth Challenge
TWAHIRWA Djibril led our TVET Youth Challenge entry, with UWAYEZU Jean Felix and me. On 15 November 2022 Uruziga took third place and 1,000,000 Frw.
/ Uruziga, part 2 of 4
Why I registered a company while I was still a student
In October 2022, still a first-year student, I registered HDEV TECH Ltd so clients could get invoices and sign contracts. We were two people.
/ Beginnings, part 4 of 4
Supporting more than 47 final-year projects while studying
From 2022 to 2024, alongside my own diploma, we supported more than 47 final-year projects for IT students. Here is what that volume taught me.
/ Uruziga, part 1 of 4
Uruziga: designing for cooperatives and basic phones
My entry to the RP Tumba Youth Innovation Challenge was Uruziga, a cooperative system over web, USSD and an app, first built with NDAYAMBAJE Celestin.
2021
/ Beginnings, part 3 of 4
My first client outside school came from an exam hall
A chat at a 2021 national exam centre led to a house rental platform with online payments, two referrals, and a final-year project built in three days.
/ RASMS, part 4 of 5
RASMS v1 to v5: crashes, weak PCs and encrypted backups
As sole maintainer I fixed crashes overnight, then built an encrypted .rasms backup so weak computers could hand their data to stronger ones.
2020
/ RASMS, part 3 of 5
No internet at school, so I built an offline installer
When TVET schools reopened after COVID on 2 November 2020, RASMS had to run without internet. I bundled the web server, database and app into one setup.
/ RASMS, part 2 of 5
Presenting a school system to the parents' meeting
In my final year I presented RASMS to the school's parents' meeting: marks, discipline, permissions, finance and SMS to parents in one system.
2019
/ RASMS, part 1 of 5
Report cards in Excel, the first software teachers used
Teachers at Musamvu TVET struggled to make error-free reports by hand, so I built a report system in Excel. It paid half of my school fees.
2018
/ Beginnings, part 2 of 4
The data-entry job that became my first business tool
Asked to type a year of records into Excel, I built an income and expense tracker instead. It earned a fee waiver and words I still remember.
/ Beginnings, part 1 of 4
An old XAMPP, a borrowed PC and my first real system
In 2018 I learned PHP on an outdated stack during a stationery-shop internship. The bugs that came from that mismatch taught me more than the tutorials did.