At the Maker Faire Africa event yesterday, I saw talented Nigerian youths, most of them secondary school students, who have set out to use technology to solve local problems in local ways with available local materials.
Meet the innovators and their exhibitions
Solution 1: Moses Jeremiah, a student of Olodi-Apapa Senior Secondary School, Lagos, showcased a solution that converts chemical energy to electrical energy using a potato. He explained that “each potato has 0.2 volts and for it to light a bulb, we need 1.5 volts.”
Solution 2: Another student from Olodi-Apapa Senior Secondary School, Lagos, Okwoh Matthew’s exhibition is a solution that recycles waste polymer/nylons and turns them to plastic tile. The steps for this process involve:
- Gathering waste polymer
- Wiping away all particles attached to the polymer
- Putting a pot on fire and allowing it to heat for 10-15 minutes then putting in the polymer and allowing it to melt
- Constructing a mould with the melted polymer
Solution 3: Ajeyalemi Joshua exhibited an Automated Lighting System solution. This device uses a light sensor to detect readings from the sky. These readings are sent to a micro controller that then determines the time of the day, and then switches on all light bulbs in the house/office and in the night and switched it off when it’s day light(Morning).
Mature solution: Founded in Lagos, Wecyclers is empowering people to clean up their communities and capture the value in recyclable materials. They operate low-cost bicycle collection vehicles that collect recyclable materials directly from households. Households are rewarded for recycling through an incentive program that allows them accumulate Wecyclers points for recycling and over time they can redeem these points for goods they value. The collection service and points balance is managed seamlessly through an SMS platform.
Follow up on the conversation with the #MFA12 hashtag via our twitter handle – @OTEKBITS, as Maker Faire enters the Co-Creation Hub today.
