A 24-year-old Ugandan software engineer, Brian Gitta and his team, have won the £25,000 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation with innovative Matibabu, used in testing malaria in persons, reports ITRealms.
Brian Gitta, ITRealms gathered, is the
first Ugandan to win the prestigious Africa Prize, and the youngest winner to
date.
Gitta and his team developed Matibabu, a device which tests
for malaria without drawing blood. Matibabu, which means ‘medical centre’ in
Swahili, is a low-cost, reusable device that clips onto a patient’s finger,
requiring no specialist expertise to operate. The results are available within
one minute on a mobile phone that is linked to the device.
A red beam of light shone through the user’s finger detects
changes in the shape, colour and concentration of red blood cells, all of which
are affected by malaria.
Gitta wins the first prize of UK £25,000 (124 million
Ugandan shillings). At an awards ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya on 13 June 2018,
four finalists from across sub-Saharan Africa delivered presentations, before
Africa Prize judges and a live audience voted for the most promising
engineering innovation.
The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, founded by the
Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK, is Africa’s biggest prize dedicated to
engineering innovation. It encourages talented sub-Saharan African engineers,
from all disciplines, to develop innovations that address crucial problems in
their communities in a new, appropriate way.
Gitta and his team decided to develop the device after
missing lectures, having had malaria several times. Matibabu is currently
undergoing testing in partnership with a national hospital in Uganda, and is
sourcing suppliers for the sensitive magnetic and laser components required to
scale up production.
Matibabu is aimed at individuals, health centres and
diagnostic suppliers. The team also aims to set up the device on the streets to
allow people to do a single test at a time.
Through their participation in the Africa Prize, the
Matibabu team have been approached by international researchers offering
support and are currently writing up their ground-breaking findings into an
academic paper, to be published within the next few months.
“We are very proud of this year’s winner. It’s a perfect
example of how engineering can unlock development – in this case by improving
healthcare,” said Rebecca Enonchong, Africa Prize judge. “Matibabu is simply a
gamechanger.”
Sixteen shortlisted Africa Prize entrants, from seven
countries in sub-Saharan Africa, received six months training and mentoring
during which they learned to develop business plans and market their
innovations. The group received coaching on communicating effectively, focusing
on customers and approaching investors with confidence.
The Africa Prize provides a unique package of support,
including funding, comprehensive business training, bespoke mentoring and
access to the Royal Academy of Engineering’s network of high profile,
experienced engineers and experts, and their networks.
It helps turn engineers with incredible ideas into
successful entrepreneurs.
Launched in 2014, the Prize aims to stimulate, celebrate and
reward engineers who have developed innovations that will benefit Africans.
The three runners up, who each won £10,000, include Collins
Saguru, a Zimbabwean working in South Africa, for AltMet, a low-cost,
environmentally friendly method for recovering precious metals from car parts; Ifediora
Ugochukwu from Nigeria for iMeter, an intelligent metering system that gives
Nigerian users transparency and control over their electricity supply; Michael
Asante-Afrifa, from Ghana for Science Set, a mini science lab that contains
specially developed materials for experiments
Reacting, Gitta expressed gratitude over the award.
“We are incredibly honoured to win the
Africa Prize – it’s such a big achievement for us, because it means that we can
better manage production in order to scale clinical trials and prove ourselves
to regulators. The recognition will help us open up partnership opportunities –
which is what we need most at the moment,” Gitta said.
The fifth Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is now
open for applications. Individuals and small teams living and working in
sub-Saharan Africa, and who have an engineering innovation, are invited to
enter. Potential entrants can find more information here. The deadline for
entries is 23 July 2018.
The Africa Prize is grateful to The Shell Centenary
Scholarship Fund, a founding sponsor of the Africa Prize for Engineering
Innovation.
Chuks Egbune/GEE
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