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Discovery

The Life Scientific: Washington Yotto Ochieng

Discovery

BBC

Science

4.31.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As a child growing up on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya, Washington Yotto Ochieng once watched a plane cross the night sky and told his mother he wished he could travel on it. But he remembers her encouraging him to dream bigger... Today, Washington is a Professor of Engineering at Imperial College London, and President of the Royal Institute of Navigation. Over a career bridging industry and academia, he has helped shape the movement of urban transport; how satellites guide us and locate us; and how governments manage the technologies underpinning so much of modern life. Professor Jim Al-Khalili speaks to Washington about his inspirational upbringing, how reliant we've become on technologies such as GPS, and his work encouraging the next generation of engineers in both the UK and Africa.

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

0:07.3

On BBC Sounds, there are podcasts to help you look after your body and your mind.

0:12.7

From increasing your immunity to feeling more confident.

0:16.6

Or tips on how to focus.

0:18.5

Sorry, what will you say?

0:19.7

If it matters to you, it matters to us.

0:22.6

Feel good inside of it.

0:24.2

With What's Up Docs.

0:25.8

And Complex with Kimberly Wilson.

0:27.9

Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:30.5

Hello, let me take you back briefly to the 1970s and a clear night in Western Kenya.

0:36.9

A young boy lies on the ground watching a faint light

0:39.3

move steadily across the sky. A plane on its way to London, his mother explains. And when he says

0:44.8

he wishes he could travel on it, she tells him, you needn't just be on a plane. One day you could

0:50.0

build them. That boy was Washington Yoto Oceang, now Professor of Engineering at Imperial College London

0:56.2

and President of the Royal Institute of Navigation. Over a career bridging industry and academia,

1:02.5

Washington has helped shape the movement of urban transport, how GPS satellites guide us and

1:07.9

locate us, and how governments manage the technologies underpinning so much

1:12.2

of modern life. He now plays a key role in encouraging the next generation of engineers across

1:16.9

the UK and Africa and has been recognised with awards including a CBE and Kenya's prestigious

1:23.7

Order of the Burning Spear. This journey from plain spotting on the shores of Lake

1:28.7

Victoria to developing the invisible systems that keep our world moving just goes to show how

...

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