Innovate Kenya

Learn. Collaborate. Create.

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Graduate student David Sengeh gives back to Sierra Leone

David Moinina Sengeh considers himself a lucky man — and one who feels the importance of living every day to the fullest. During Sierra Leone’s fierce civil war, as bands of child-soldiers roamed the country committing murder and mayhem, he and his parents and four siblings escaped unharmed. But his family and friends were not entirely unscathed: Two uncles were brutally killed, and a stray bullet killed a girl who lived next door. “Anybody who lived in Sierra Leone got affected by the war,” says Sengeh, now a doctoral student at the MIT Media Lab. Read more…

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This past Saturday, the GMin-Innovate Kenya team was invited to  provide a full day introductory session on Design Thinking in Mombasa town to 37 professionals involved in the Mombasa Girls in STEM Solve IT Project. The project aims to empower girls to take a keen interest in STEM based subjects by having women professionals from Mombasa train and mentor 150 high school girls on a STEM-based curriculum. This project is led by alumni of the TechWomen Program in Kenya and their partners Pwani Teknowgalz, supported by the US State Department Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF), a fund that supports alumni initiatives that promote shared values and innovative solutions to global challenges. 

The training was carried out in Senator Hassan Omar’s office in Mombasa where we were joined by the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary, Mr.Joe Mucheru and Mr. Mahmoud Noor - Head of CSR at SEACOM (a company that provides connectivity services). The training involved introduction to Design Thinking based on the d.school and IDEO.org curriculum and we started the day off with a design challenge of stacking fruits! The challenge was an introductory test for the teams to see how they can create, collaborate and work in a limited time and resource environment. Afterwards, we moved on to introducing the steps involved in the design thinking process and the participants got to use the Empathy Toolkit and the Problem Framing Tree to get a more practical experience of the process.

Participants were also tasked with analysing the traffic problem in Mombasa and to understand between the cause and effects. Through guidance, they identified their user and came up with various solutions for how to ease traffic congestion in the coastal town which included but not limited to; encouraging use of eco friendly bikes for short distance travels, a mobile app to track and alert users about notorious ‘matatu’ (minibus) drivers and an adjustment to a 6 hour work schedule/shift that can help in minimising ‘rush hour’ traffic

Towards the end, participants were given an example of how they can  make their product or service sustainable by getting it into the market and how they can use the business canvass to map out several aspects of their business. Leroy, who is a GMin youth ambassador, also shared his journey as a social innovator and how he aims to make his biogas project more sustainable while still creating impact in his school community.  

The training went well! Our only wish is that we could have had more time to hack into and deconstruct more local problems that they face in their communities but we also know that this  was just the beginning and we look forward to working more with TechWomen & PwaniTecknowgalz!

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Towards the end of last year we had a great community day session with the girls at St.Elizabeth and African Born 3D print(AB3D)- a local based company that makes 3D printers from electronic waste(e-waste). Prior to the event, the St.Elizabeth girls were researching on the various effects of #e-waste on the environment and how countries like India, Ghana, Sierra Leone and even Kenya are already e-waste dumpsters for Western countries. With this realization, the girls were challenged to think of ways to tackle this challenge and we offered them an example of how #AB3D is reusing e-waste to make 3D printers.

Karl & Roy who are the co-founders of AB3D, gave a demonstration of how 3D printers work as well as the many applications that the 3d printing technology is used for. The girls were also encouraged to think up of ways that 3D printers can be used in their school community and they came up with interesting ideas on how they can be used to print door hinges to repair broken doors, create a 3 in one adjustable farm tool; imagine a digging/pitch fork+plow+spade!

It was a great session full of learning about new tech and imagining possibilities! We thank Karl & Roy for showing the girls various ways they can use technology to drive change in society.

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So what is Design-Thinking? After participating in the Design-a-thon and demonstration labs in July, students were still curious into what Design-Thinking really is.  In seeing this, the Innovate Kenya team led by our new InLabs Program Manager Michelle, organized a 4 day camp in August to expose the students into the various steps of Design-thinking; Empathize, Define, Ideate,Prototype & Test. Michelle then led a session where the students were tasked on how they could use the design-thinking process to improve the healthcare system so that it can cater to the needs of everyone that is involved in it.

The students split into 3 groups and  identified the users of the healthcare system - doctors, patients and nurses and went ahead to identify problems these users face through the empathize, define and ideate steps then created possible solutions and prototypes to these problems. They learnt about three types of prototypes; physical prototypes, digital prototypes and experience prototypes and were encouraged to select solutions that fit into these prototypes. The group working on doctors noted that a big problem doctors face is the large numbers of patients they had to treat, leaving them exhausted and pressed for time. This group generated several ideas that could solve this problem and settled on a digital prototype. They presented an information system that uses communication gadgets and apps such as Skype that would allow doctors to administer treatment to patients remotely. Those working on patients identified lack of funds as a major reason many patients are unable to receive quality treatment. They created two types of prototypes, an experience prototype that would see several funds raised through various fundraising opportunities like charity walks and a digital prototype where a mobile application that enables patients to make appointments, order medication from various pharmacies, and have the medication delivered to them nationwide would be effective in solving their problem. Last but not least, the group working on nurses noted that often times nurses feel unappreciated and undervalued for their work. Motivational workshops and assignment of peer mentors to promote positive attitudes in the hospital was the experience prototype the students designed. They also presented a digital prototype where patient files and records could be stored in electronics such as computers and tablets to reduce the amount of time it takes to pull those records. The girls really got creative with the design brief and executed the task at hand impressively well, for first time design thinking students!

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If you were to design your own school, how would you do it? how would you ensure that the school and the space is utilized fully by the teachers, students staff and community members? To answer these questions, the girls at St.Elizabeth academy participated in a 4 hour design-a-thon event where they would try and address this design challenge. We were also privileged to be joined by Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) which is an organization that partners with residents of impoverished areas to develop and implement design solutions that improve physical, economic, and social quality of life. The students were briefly taken through the design-thinking process and worked in teams of 4-5 students. At the end of the event, the students took to the stage to present their ideal school to their peers. Kudos to Nick Okafor, who is been our superstar summer fellow and the one who designed and implemented the design-a-thon event for the students!

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Makey-ing Music with Bananas

This past few weeks we were delighted to host various demonstration labs at different secondary schools in Nairobi. On the second week of July we demonstrated in front of 35 students and 3 teachers from St.Aloysius Gonzaga, a Catholic secondary school that serves HIV/AIDS affected young people in the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya. The day started with the Innovate Kenya team introducing what #design-thinking, #innovation and #STEAM is to the group of students. We then divided the students into groups of 6 and each team were given a short task of making some music using bananas! How is this possible you may wonder? Well, we introduced a simple invention kit called the “Makey-Makey” to the students and we had them connect some alligator clips to the bananas and they started playing piano keys by tapping the bananas!  

Kudos to Shady Hill School for the kind donations of Mac laptops, Makey-Makey and St.Aloysious for having us :)!

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Yet another fun and awesome experience with Innovate Kenya,Global Minimum Inc.We went to Boston,Cambridge to MIT where we were attending the Eureka Fest under the Lemelson-MIT programme.We presented our project.We got to learn alot from 3D printing to being taught how to make a thin film solar cell which was one of our goals and we achieved it.Right now we are working on installing our project on a house.Thanks to Global Minimum,David Sengeh,Carol Dahl,Richy Bikko,Rupak Chakrabort,Lindsey Wang and so many others

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In June, Sharon Muthoni  and Ann Karime  who were finalists of 2015 Innovate Kenya were invited to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to attend ‪#‎EurekaFest2015‬! The girls were exposed to life-changing mentors from MIT Photovoltaic Research Laboratory and MIT Media Lab, and had the opportunity to showcase their Thin Film Solar Project alongside ‪#‎InvenTeam‬ from Lemelson-MIT Program.

Our deepest gratitude goes to Lemelson-MIT Program, Lemelson Foundation, Broken Arrow Senior High School Inven Team, Rupak Chakraborty, Lindsey Wang, Bright Bothway and Anita Kibunguchy who all made their experience very special.

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“Why can't research and science stuff be fun? Lets try and make it so!” - (Contrail Robotics, Facebook Page)

At the National Science, Technology & Innovation Week, the students were able to get a demo of a home-built drone  by Moses Gichanga of Contrail Robotics. Students were also able to learn about the various industrial applications of drones which include; wildlife conservation, precision agriculture, aerial video & photography, surveying/GIS and also for delivering parcels

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Following a successful InChallenge program, we had 3 of the teams from Aquinas High School invited to the National Science Technology & Innovation Week at the University of Nairobi where over 35 technical institutions were in attendance showcasing different tech projects. We had The Voise Kenya team, Savier team and Cosvix Chamber team in attendance at the conference and they had a chance to interact with various innovators from other high schools and technical institutions. A big thank you to the National Commission of Science, Technology & Innovation for extending an invite to the teams!

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Over the next few weeks, we’ll be showcasing the projects of each of our incredible teams from the Innovate Kenya program. Today we’re excited to profile “The Kibera Skater Project”, a short documentary written, filmed and produced by Dennis Ochieng (SHOFCO) and Diana Muhonja (SHOFCO).

Kibera has a thriving skater community, but the neighborhood is often only depicted as a poverty-stricken slum. Dennis and Diana set out to uncover the passion and challenges faced by the Kibera Skater Project, and give the youth leading this movement a voice.

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A story told with Adobe Voice.

One of Innovate Kenya 2015′s finest teams, “The Voice”, created this wonderful animation using Adobe Youth Voices (an official partner of Global Minimum).

Innovate Kenya, still going strong!

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And now for the very best part...the afterparty!

After three weeks of hard work it’s time to celebrate! We’re not just celebrating our learning journeys, but the life-long friendships we’ve made. Innovate Kenya is a community of innovators, designers, problem-solvers, and people who care about their communities, and this movement will only continue to grow. Congrats to the class of 2015 and we’re wishing everyone luck on the adventures to come!

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Thursday was a truly remarkable day. With over 70 people in attendance, including government officials, corporations and other organizations, we pitched our community-based solutions. It was nerve-racking, but a wonderful close to three weeks of learning, collaborating and making. Passing our prototypes around the room and using stories to describe our user scenarios never felt so good. There were claps, laughs and questions among the audience, and we were ready!

We also had amazing guest speakers from Craft Silicon and Acumen discuss how to create ties between the government, private sector and the technology community, in addition to what makes a product a viable, scalable solution.

The weeks of designing our prototypes, building them, practicing our listening skills and pitching all paid off. The networking session afterward produced a flurry of opportunities including funding and further mentorship. We’re excited for all the incredible relationships we’re in the process of building! Innovate...Kenya!

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Yesterday afternoon, each of our teams completed a test run of our presentations, and it was a tough session. Feedback flew across the room and some of it was hard to swallow. Our peers and mentors grilled us on everything from our slides, standing position, confidence and ability to engage the audience. It was a great session in preparation for final pitch day, and if there were ever a session to learn to accept constructive feedback, this was the one.

Some of us have complete prototypes, some of us have paper prototypes, but our ability to articulate the vision and practical application of our community-based solutions is what will leave us on top. After reviewing some helpful presentation tips, we’re ready! Innovate...Kenya!

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We’ve made a lot of progress the past week working on our prototypes. Our design-thinking workshops, mentors, guest speakers and field trips have all heavily shaped our projects, and most of us will be ready to test our prototypes in our communities over the next few weeks. We’ve had challenges (including finding the right materials, development time, and understanding user expectations) but with the support of our peers we’ve been able to overcome many of them. 

The prototyping process has been incredibly empowering. The freedom to experiment, design and shape an idea so rapidly (which has become a reality), is a true accomplishment. Next step...creating our presentations to pitch our prototypes on Thursday!

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This week we were very lucky to have Mark Kamau, lead of the iHub UX Lab speak to us about user experience design and the application of design-thinking to various global issues. Mark gave us so many incredible examples, including Doug Dietz’s redesign of the MRI machine to ease the fears of children.

Mark emphasized that design is not a product, but a process focused on problem-solving (we couldn’t agree more). The iHub UX Lab has spent the last few years developing the BRCK, a robust portable device which meets the electricity and internet needs of communities in urban and rural areas of Kenya. It can act as a hub for all devices, connects to multiple networks and has enough backup power to survive a blackout. Mark and the BRCK team have been traveling and testing the device in various parts of Africa to ensure the device’s adaptability.

In developing and testing the device, Mark explained that the iHub team has shared the “cognitive load” with target communities. The goal is to share the design experience with the user, and  look at a problem from all angles to build a better prototype.

These experiences and stories have inspired us to take a similar route when building and testing our prototypes, in addition to making us better designers!