Category: Science & Technology

Team Save-A-Soul Wins 2018 Technovation World Pitch Junior Division

Nigerian Team Save-A-Soul have won the 2018 Technovation World Pitch Junior Division.

The Nigerian girls won the Junior Division Finalists (App focus) category during the “Global Innovation Celebration” held in the San Jose Theatre, August 9, 2018.

The girls, from Regina Abachi secondary school, Onitsa, codenamed Team Save-A-Soul comprising of Promise Nnalue, Jessica Osita, Nwabuaku Ossai, Adaeze Onuigbo and Vivian Okoye, developed a mobile application called ‘FD-Detector’ to tackle the problem of fake pharmaceutical products in Nigeria with Mrs Uchenna Onwuamaegbu-Ugwu, as their mentor.

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Honorees Of Silicon Valley – Nigeria Economic Development Inc Excellence Awards [2018]

Adeyinka Ezekiel and Sowemimo Abiodun Alex have been honoured by Silicon Valley – Nigeria Economic Development Inc during its 2nd immersion program held in Lagos and Abuja.

Adeyinka Ezekiel, a software, robotics and hardware engineer received the best graduating student award with a perfect score.

According to a statement by Silicon Valley – Nigeria Economic Development Inc. (SV-NED Inc.) on Twitter:

“Congratulations to @AdeyinkaEzekie1, @SVNEDInc best graduating student with a perfect score of 100%, merit honor award of Excellence & Tech incubator by Silicon Valley Nigeria Economic Development Inc, 2nd immersion program.

We are so proud of you for your outstanding performance.”

Also, Chairman/CEO Cvmetric Network Company, Sowemimo Abiodun Alex received a merit honour of excellence and incubator by the Silicon Valley – Nigeria Economic Development (SV-NED) for his contributions to the development of IT infrastructures in Nigeria and the world.

Sowemimo Abiodun Alex, an IT expert amongst others successful IT firms, was also honoured with a certificate of completion for the Silicon Valley – Nigeria Economic Development (SV-NED), second immersion programme.

According to SV-NED, Alex deserved the honour for his vast knowledge in the technology industry and as well been a force to reckon with in the growth of IT in Nigeria and across the globe, towards boosting global economy.

Speaking on the award, Alex stated:

“It’s a privilege to be honored by Silicon Valley Nigeria Economic Development.

Not many people get this and being among the few people recognized in the Nigeria IT world is a great honour.

This award will be an encouragement for me to do more and to continually expand the scope of technology in Nigeria to alleviate social and corporate challenges.”

Mrs. Temitope Ajayi, the President and Founder of SV-NED, said the immersion programme with experts drawn from different parts of the world was designed to teach participants how to manage their businesses properly, reduce costs and increase their revenues.

SV-NED Inc. facilitates the creation of business opportunities designed for Silicon Valley technology companies to bring their businesses into Nigeria. SV-NED Inc. is committed to creating economic growth that would take Nigeria from a developing country to an emerging market. Designed to reduce dependency on oil explorations, and increase profitability in technology and human capital.

The mission of Silicon Valley – Nigeria Economic Development is to establish a strategic, bilateral economic relationship between Silicon Valley and Nigeria.

Winners Of 2018 Clean Energy Innovation Challenge

Aspire, Hydrolite, Hydrotriciton and ZeroElectric have emerged winners of the 2018 Clean Energy Innovation Challenge – selected at the Co Creation Hub HQ in Yaba, Lagos after a rigorous selection process, challenging boot camp and engaging pitch competition.

The Clean Energy Innovation Challenge, with the aim of unearthing and supporting renewable energy innovators in Nigeria, awarded startup capital of $10,000 each to the four early stage energy companies.

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3 Nigerians Win Gold At The 2018 World Adolescent Robotic Competition

Three Nigerian students have won gold for proper documentation of processes on engineering note at the 2018 World Adolescent Robotic Competition in China.

The students – Tawakalitu Giwa, Oluwaseun Omotayo and Ayomide Adetunji – also won the “Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli’ Award for Courageous Achievement at the event organised by the China Association of Science and Technology.

The five-day event competition’s challenge was on Water Problem and the proper documentation of processes on engineering note was one of the 10 award categories in the competition.

The students – two females and a male from Lagos State schools – were part of the Team Nigeria to the FIRST Global Robotic Olympics (GRO) in Washington DC in 2017. They were selected for the China competition based on their performances at the FIRST GRO.

The team was sponsored by Aramex and Doculand Nig.

According to the National Coordinator of the competition, Remi Willoughby:

“Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli Award for Courageous Achievement is awarded to the team that exhibits a `can-do’ attitude throughout the challenge even under difficult circumstances, or when things do not go as planned.

It is bestowed on the team that can best demonstrate resilience and perseverance in the face of great difficulty.

This award looks at how teams embody professionalism, face challenges they encounter and how they overcome them.”

Willoughby also stated that three other student who represented Nigeria at the 2018 Pan African Robotic Competition in Senegal emerged second in robotics performance.

The Managing Director of Aramex and Doculand Nig., Faisal Jarmakani, had at a press conference in Lagos announced that five other students would represent Nigeria at the next edition of the annual FIRST GRO scheduled for Mexico from August 13 to August 19.

He listed the students as Anjolaoluwa Olowo, Iroagachinachi Udodirim, Samuel Mbah, Tochukwu Anyigbo and Daberechi Onyeacholem.

In the words of Faisal Jarmakani on the 2018 World Adolescent Robotic Competition:

“The 2018 challenge in Mexico will be on “Energy Impact”. Competitors will be expected to solve problems related to energy with the use of robotics.

Without any doubts, we will soon join other countries of the world where science and technology have become the backbone of economic development.”

Winners Of 2018 Africa Digital Awards (ADA)

Winners have emerged at the 2018 Africa Digital Awards (ADA), organized by the ICTWatch Network , which held in Lagos.

Digital Encode won two awards: Most Outstanding and the Most Innovative Cybersecurity Company of the Year 2018.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) was awarded the ‘Most Outstanding Government Agency of the Year’.

NIGCOMSAT Limited and Abimbola Alale (MD/CEO of NIGCOMSAT) respectively received; Most Outstanding Government Agency and ICT Woman of the Year.

Medallion Communications won two awards. The two awards are ‘Information Communications Technology Enterprenuer of the Year 2018’, which goes to the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Ikechukwu Nnamani and the ‘Information Communications Technology ClearingHouse of the Year 2018’, which goes to Medallion Communications Limited.

Receiving the awards on behalf of Medallion Communications Limited at the event that was done concurrently with the 2018 Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum at the Oriental Hotel, Mr. Nnamani said he is excited to be recognised for the efforts Medallion has made to contribute to the growth of the Nigerian telecom industry.

The awards, which he said are dedicated to the staff of Medallion for their resilience and innovative prowess in growing the company to where it is, will spur him and other staff to do more, saying to whom much is given, much is expected.

According to Tayo Adewusi, the award Coordinator, the awards is an outcome of a meticulous assessment by an Independent Screening Committee (ISC) of ADA, where the awardees were nominated.

Medallion Communications maintains over 83 service providers connected to its Lagos infrastructure including Mobile Service Providers, LTE Operators, Fixed Line Operators, Metro Fiber Service Providers, Long Distance service providers, VAS Providers, ISPs, OTT Operators, and major critical national infrastructure like the Nigerian Internet Exchange as well as the Nigerian Internet Registration Agency (Nira) – the managers of the .ng domain name for Nigeria.

The Africa Digital Awards (ADA), is an annual event since 2010. The award, which is part of Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum was coined out to appreciate industry’s stakeholders who have leveraged the potent power of Information and Communications Technology to scale in their various businesses.

Carrot Technologies Limited Develops App For Will Making

A team of young Nigerians have developed an app, Carrotng, to enable people securely create their wills, organise assets and secure their financial future.

The team lead, Odunayo Williams, said the Carrot mobile app and web platform was developed as parts of efforts to protect the rights of widows and family members of a deceased person.

He said the platform enables testators to appoint guardians for their children and aged parents, appoint trustees, witnesses and executors.

This, he said, will eliminate the falsification of wills and the struggle for a deceased person’s estate especially by family members.

In addition, another team member, Luqman Balogun, raised concerns over what he described as the low penetration of wills making in Nigeria.

According to him, less than five percent of Nigerians write their wills.

Luqman Balogun stated:

“One of the challenges faced by Nigerians today is that of inheritance and estate planning. It is generally believed that the making of wills is an exclusive preserve of the rich but this is a false assumption. A recent study carried out by our team revealed that more men are writing wills than women.

It also showed that people 60 years and above or people working with organisations that insist on staff wills making are those writing their wills in Nigeria. We are trying to remove all barriers that prevent most families from getting the kind of legal and financial protection they need and deserve.”

Luqman Balogun said their financial technology company comprises of experts who are lawyers, trust and estate practitioners, bankers, tax consultants and financial advisers.

Carrot Technlogies Limited, is a fintech company with special focus on helping families with innovative and affordable financial planning services.

Its partners include Leadway Insurance, Royal Exchange Assurance Group, SendBox and STEP – Society of Estate and Trust Practitioners UK.

LASPOTECH Wins Inaugural NSChE Engineering Quiz Competition

The Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Ikorodu, has won the maiden edition of the engineering quiz competition organized for higher institutions in Lagos and Ogun states by the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE).

The Engineering Quiz Competition, which is a requirement from the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) for its different divisions to hold annual quiz, was organized to strengthen the study of engineering in the Nigeria, had four schools in participation. They include: University of Lagos (UNILAG); Lagos State University (LASU), Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) and Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH).

Although the Engineering Quiz Competition was organized by NSChE for tertiary institutions in Ogun and Lagos states, it is expected that it would soon be a nationwide event that would be organized regionally before the grand finale.

Kamilu Oyedeko, chairman of the Lagos/Ogun states chapter remarked that the aim of the competition is to produce competent future engineers for the country, by encouraging the students to be well grounded in the fundamentals of the profession while still at school.

While stating that chemical engineers are the catalysts for industrial growth in any nation, Oyedeko advised well-established professionals and operators of industries to support initiatives aimed at grooming budding engineers in the country.

According to Kamilu Oyedeko:

“This programme has advanced their knowledge of the field and provided a platform for participants to exchange ideas. We have seen from this event that the students have gone far in familiarizing with the basic knowledge of chemical engineering from the way the competition was keenly contended. The first place winner emerged with just a little point ahead of the second place winner.

We are highly impressed by their performances and have discovered how far they have been able to retain what they have learnt in their various institutions. Once you are good in the fundamentals of the profession, you will definitely go far in life. We appeal to the authorities to give opportunities to more chemical engineers at all levels to make meaningful contributions to the development of the country.”

Olusegun Shodeyibi, chairman of the intercollegiate quiz competition stated:

“We tested them in the core areas of: chemical reactions, process control, separation process, thermodynamics, environmental engineering, unit generation, system control, among others and they have really impressed everybody. This is one of the processes of grooming highly skilled engineers for Nigeria since it has been observed that chemical engineering is at its infancy stage here in the country. We have issues in the economy and most of the companies are not doing well, however, it is a challenge for the professionals to wake up.

The impact of the competition is that it will help them to improve on themselves. Some of them are in their National Diploma class and others in level four in the university and so the programme will promote better understanding of their studies so that they can become more experienced when they graduate from the university. I urge you all to work hard toward becoming job creators and entrepreneurs rather than job seekers.”