Kenyan Lady Wins £25,000 Engineering Prize After Inventing
VacciBox, A Portable, Solar Powered Fridge, Meet Norah Magero

Norah Magero, a Kenyan mechanical engineer, co-developed the VacciBox; a portable, solar powered fridge.

It is a small, mobile, solar-powered fridge that safely stores and transports medicines like vaccines, for use in field vaccinations and remote clinics.

Norah Magero has become the first Kenyan and only the second woman to win the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation since it’s inception 8 years ago.

Ms. Magero’s 2022 feat comes courtesy of her innovation, the VacciBox; a small, mobile, solar-powered fridge that safely stores and transports medicines like vaccines, for use in field vaccinations and remote clinics.

She won £25,000 ( approx. Ksh.3.6 million) at the virtual awards ceremony held on June 15, 2022, where four finalists delivered their presentations after which Africa Prize judges and a live audience voted for the most promising engineering innovation.

“VacciBox was designed with our local challenges in mind. It’s versatile, reliable and localized. We’re ensuring that it works the way healthcare workers need it to work for the conditions they face each day, so that they can save lives without worrying about technology,” said Magero.

“I’ve grown immensely and met such brilliant engineers and non-engineers doing amazing things through the Africa Prize. This award will help us continue to develop VacciBox to help get life saving vaccines to many more people.”

The 40 litre VacciBox is portable and lightweight; it and can be wheeled or mounted on a bicycle, motorbike or boat, and has a telescopic handle for easy mobility.

A built-in thermostat and digital thermometer maintain temperatures required for cold-chain medicines, a battery supply as well as mains and solar panel connectivity and a charge controller, ensure power stability.

The Africa Prize judge Alessandra Buonfino, while announcing the winner, said; “We’re delighted to award VacciBox the Africa Prize. The potential impact of improving the cold chain delivery of medicine – especially vaccines – to rural areas is immense.”

“Norah truly represents the idea that one innovator can change an entire community. We look forward to watching her and her team scale this innovation to reach even more people,” added Buonfino.

The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation was founded by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering in 2014, and is dedicated to identifying successful engineering entrepreneurs.

Now in its eighth year, it supports talented sub-Saharan African entrepreneurs with engineering innovations that address crucial problems in their communities in a new way.

The 16 shortlisted Africa Prize entrepreneurs from nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa received eight months of training and mentoring including support with developing business plans, recruitment, IP protection, financing and commercialisation.

Source: www.vitizen.digital

Email: elora.akpotosevbe@yahoo.com