Abubakar Surajo, Tolulope Ajuwape and Chinenye Nwaogwugwu, all
Nigerian engineering innovators, were picked from among candidates from
15 countries in Africa and shortlisted for the Africa Prize for
Engineering Innovation Award set to take place in United Kingdom (UK),
early next year.
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, organised by United Kingdom’s (UK) Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), has launched an engineering innovation award to encourage engineers across all disciplines in sub-Saharan Africa to apply their engineering skills to develop solutions to local challenges. The prize celebrates innovation and entrepreneurship and aims to improve quality of life and stimulate economic development.
Among the shortlisted candidates chosen from countries across Africa including Zimbabawe, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia were Nigeria’s Abubakar Surajo, Tolulupe Ajuwape and Chinenye Nwaogwugwu.
Surajo of the Nigerian Army Transformation and Innovation Centre, Nigeria, invented a removable burglar-bar system that enables a quick emergency exit from a building.
His innovation makes burglar bars more versatile. It entails a locking mechanism incorporated into the burglar-bar system, which can only be unlocked from the inside, until the unlocked bars are impenetrable. This means that users can feel safe and secure within their home or business, without the burglar bars preventing their escape in an emergency.
Ajuwape is of the University of Ibadan. Her mobile payment application innovation allows merchants and customers to make and receive card payments for products and services, using their phones and tablets. The application incorporates making mobile money applications more across Africa. The innovation includes receipts issued by sending short Messages Service (SMS) or electronic mail (email), building customer databases for marketing, turning the host device into a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal and storage of transaction records via barcodes in a safe cloud-based platform.
The business-orientated solution reduces the costs of banking, reduces the risks of cash-related crimes, and gets small businesses to record their transactions so they become part of the formal tax-paying sector. The application also has a management tool for business owners to track their inventory and keep basic accounting of expenditure.
Nwaogwugwu is of Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
His innovation is a low cost biodegradable degreaser for mining, agriculture and manufacturing. It is an affordable, heavy-duty multi-surface and multi-purpose degreaser and cleaner that removes organic and inorganic dirt from washable surfaces.
Produced using biodegradable raw materials, it is environmentally-friendly, non-corrosive and non-acidic and cleans an array of materials without harming them, making it particularly suited to manufacturing, mining, and agricultural applications among others.
Speaking on the entries, chairman of the judging panel, Malcolm Brinded, CBE FREng, said they demonstrated the huge engineering ingenuity that exists in Africa.
“Deciding on the shortlist was extremely difficult as the standard was high, and the entrepreneurial talent was clear to see. All the shortlisted entrants have innovations with the potential to have a significant, positive impact and will benefit from the networks and entrepreneurial skills gained during the next six months.
“During the next six months, these entrants will participate in training and mentoring from top business development and engineering experts.
“Following the six-month period of training and mentorship, three finalists will be invited to present their innovations and an overall winner will be selected to receive £25,000, with two runners-up to be awarded £10,000 each.”
Other shortlisted entrants include Samuel Njugana Wangui from Kenya, whose innovation enables inter-operability between different mobile networks in a multi-SIM environment; Ernst Pretorius from South Africa, whose innovation is a fence tampering warning system for farmers; Ian Mutamiri from Zimbabwe, a mobile device application that teaches children how to read Shona; Musenga Silwawa from Zambia, a precise and regulated fertiliser applicator for small-scale farmers.
Samuel Maling is from Uganda. His innovation is a full-cycle sanitation service to reduce pollution to the environment and prevent diarrheal disease; Rujeko Masike from Zimbabwe invented a portable crushing machine for small and medium size mining operations; Askwar Hilonga from Tanzania invented the integration of nanotechnology and sand-based water filtration for safe drinking water; Oscar Kibazohi is also from Tanzania and his innovation is a mechanical pressing of bananas to produce enzyme-free clear banana juice; and South Africa’s Reinhardt Kotzé came up with an industrial process and quality control system for the fluids manufacturing industry.
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, organised by United Kingdom’s (UK) Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), has launched an engineering innovation award to encourage engineers across all disciplines in sub-Saharan Africa to apply their engineering skills to develop solutions to local challenges. The prize celebrates innovation and entrepreneurship and aims to improve quality of life and stimulate economic development.
Among the shortlisted candidates chosen from countries across Africa including Zimbabawe, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia were Nigeria’s Abubakar Surajo, Tolulupe Ajuwape and Chinenye Nwaogwugwu.
Surajo of the Nigerian Army Transformation and Innovation Centre, Nigeria, invented a removable burglar-bar system that enables a quick emergency exit from a building.
His innovation makes burglar bars more versatile. It entails a locking mechanism incorporated into the burglar-bar system, which can only be unlocked from the inside, until the unlocked bars are impenetrable. This means that users can feel safe and secure within their home or business, without the burglar bars preventing their escape in an emergency.
Ajuwape is of the University of Ibadan. Her mobile payment application innovation allows merchants and customers to make and receive card payments for products and services, using their phones and tablets. The application incorporates making mobile money applications more across Africa. The innovation includes receipts issued by sending short Messages Service (SMS) or electronic mail (email), building customer databases for marketing, turning the host device into a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal and storage of transaction records via barcodes in a safe cloud-based platform.
The business-orientated solution reduces the costs of banking, reduces the risks of cash-related crimes, and gets small businesses to record their transactions so they become part of the formal tax-paying sector. The application also has a management tool for business owners to track their inventory and keep basic accounting of expenditure.
Nwaogwugwu is of Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
His innovation is a low cost biodegradable degreaser for mining, agriculture and manufacturing. It is an affordable, heavy-duty multi-surface and multi-purpose degreaser and cleaner that removes organic and inorganic dirt from washable surfaces.
Produced using biodegradable raw materials, it is environmentally-friendly, non-corrosive and non-acidic and cleans an array of materials without harming them, making it particularly suited to manufacturing, mining, and agricultural applications among others.
Speaking on the entries, chairman of the judging panel, Malcolm Brinded, CBE FREng, said they demonstrated the huge engineering ingenuity that exists in Africa.
“Deciding on the shortlist was extremely difficult as the standard was high, and the entrepreneurial talent was clear to see. All the shortlisted entrants have innovations with the potential to have a significant, positive impact and will benefit from the networks and entrepreneurial skills gained during the next six months.
“During the next six months, these entrants will participate in training and mentoring from top business development and engineering experts.
“Following the six-month period of training and mentorship, three finalists will be invited to present their innovations and an overall winner will be selected to receive £25,000, with two runners-up to be awarded £10,000 each.”
Other shortlisted entrants include Samuel Njugana Wangui from Kenya, whose innovation enables inter-operability between different mobile networks in a multi-SIM environment; Ernst Pretorius from South Africa, whose innovation is a fence tampering warning system for farmers; Ian Mutamiri from Zimbabwe, a mobile device application that teaches children how to read Shona; Musenga Silwawa from Zambia, a precise and regulated fertiliser applicator for small-scale farmers.
Samuel Maling is from Uganda. His innovation is a full-cycle sanitation service to reduce pollution to the environment and prevent diarrheal disease; Rujeko Masike from Zimbabwe invented a portable crushing machine for small and medium size mining operations; Askwar Hilonga from Tanzania invented the integration of nanotechnology and sand-based water filtration for safe drinking water; Oscar Kibazohi is also from Tanzania and his innovation is a mechanical pressing of bananas to produce enzyme-free clear banana juice; and South Africa’s Reinhardt Kotzé came up with an industrial process and quality control system for the fluids manufacturing industry.
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