The first ASME Innovation Showcase hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) international accelerator of hardware-led social innovation project has seen entrepreneurs from Nigeria and Kenya come out tops to clinch the prizes. The Kenyan and Nigerian innovations in clean cooking, feminine hygiene and medical diagnostics won US$30,000 in cash funding and technical support at the 2020 ASME ISHOW Kenya Virtual Event. Eight socially-minded teams of inventors from Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt presented their design prototypes in a virtual event held on May 19-21, with three inventors emerging as regional winners. They will share US$30,000 in seed grants and receive technical support to help bring their design innovations to market.
The winners were Kenya’s Ecobora, which is equipping rural marginalised schools with its patented solar-powered cook stove; Kenya’s Inteco, which focuses on the distribution and supply chain management of donated sanitary pads to adolescent girls in schools; and Nigeria’s MicroFuse Technologies, which has developed a tool that enables users to diagnose and detect cerebral malaria retinopathy with a smartphone while also capturing other individual patient data.
Speaking about the competition, ASME’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Tom Costabile said that “We are proud to offer a forum for engineering problem-solving that truly improves lives,” adding that “we are continually impressed by the creative talent of ASME ISHOW participants and their passion for helping underserved communities around the world.”
In addition to the three grand prize winners, the product with the most votes in social media for each regional event is named the “Fan Favourite,’’ and receives US$1,000. The winner was Nigeria’s Dunamis-Cognitio, which has developed a sustainable, affordable, portable, light weight, thermoelectric generator that harnesses heat energy to generate electricity accessible from a USB power port.
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Another finalist team was recognised with a special “Research and Development Award” for its diligence in improving on a previous innovation and developing the next generation of hardware. That was Kenya’s BURN Manufacturing, which builds a forced draft biomass stove that is compatible with pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar systems.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry