The Inaugural National demo day of the Catch Them Young and Curious – Sahara STEAMers Program, facilitated by Sahara Foundation, has produced three winners in Kenya, following a competition that featured inventions by young students.
According to the organizers, the program is designed to create an opportunity for 150 participants across Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda to access learning experiences, practical classrooms, and labs leading them on the journey of becoming technical problem solvers.
Sahara Foundation, the corporate responsibility vehicle of leading energy and infrastructure conglomerate, Sahara Group, had last month hosted the Nigerian edition that saw the participation of Igbobi College, Yaba, and Oshodi Junior High school, Lagos, competing to represent the nation in the regional Demo grand final event.
The Sahara STEAMers program encourages young African students to explore ways of presenting solutions to global issues through an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).
The Kenya edition, which was held at iHub, Nairobi, was hosted by Asharami Synergy Kenya, a Sahara Group company.
Participants had the opportunity to showcase their inventions proving that engagement in STEMM can help produce sustainable solutions, especially in developing countries.
One of the projects presented by St. Nicholas Senior School is the Automated home cleaner designed to help people perform house chores.
The device, which mops seamlessly, is fitted with a vacuum that operates as an automatic floor cleaner.
It also has a music button and another button to light up the light-emitting diode (LED) connected to it while in use.
Another group produced an Automated Irrigation System which detects the level of water in the soil and sends a buzzing alarm that alerts the farmer to turn the water on or off.
Learners were assessed on how they explored simulations and hands-on learning of physical computing concepts.
It emerged that the contestants were able to identify a problem in their community and delivered projects to proffer solutions to the identified problem within their communities.
The competition featured five groups each from Olympic High school and St. Nicholas school.
The students’ inventions targeted several sectors including Agriculture, Energy, Home Automation, Transport, and Security.
The top three (3) groups that emerged winners of the competition will now go on to represent Kenya in the grand regional demo day event against the winners from Nigeria and Uganda.
Quotes
Sultan Kirigha, STEM CAFÉ Educator said: “The students have worked hard, and their presentations were remarkable. Pulling off such presentations after six months of training is something worthy of commendation.” Kirigha said: “The judges focused on Energy solutions that transform and shape the communities.”
Asharami Synergy Country Manager Debola Adesanya said, “I have learned a lot from the amazing students we have had the privilege of hosting today. You have outstanding projects, and we look forward to seeing more inventions from you and ultimately exploring how Sahara Foundation will continue to support these innovative solutions to become drivers of sustainable development in Kenya.”
“With innovation at the heart of Asharami’s operations, powering creative programs which support innovative thinking and solve prevalent challenges in our society is a commitment Asharami Synergy is dedicated to advancing,” said Lavinah Gonah, Operations Manager, Asharami Synergy.
“This will be the best cleaning little guy ever created. The cleaning bot has an option of three names just to make it seem like it is part of the family. The names are Chiku or Boti. The innovation which is aimed at solving Global Warming challenges using wind power will also reduce pollution and radiation,” explained students from St. Nicholas.
