If Kenya’s young scientists ever needed a cheerleader, that would be Anne Muigai, a Professor of Genetics with over 19 years of experience in research, academics and administrative management in the Kenyan public university sector.
Prof Muigai sits at a vantage point over the landscape of young scientists as she is the Chief Judge of the Young Scientists Kenya (YSK) initiative.
YSK was created by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Government of Ireland through its embassy in Kenya, with support from Blaze by Safaricom. With YSK, young people from across Kenya get an opportunity to demonstrate innovation and showcase their scientific talents through a National Science and Technology competition.
The competition attracts submissions from secondary school students in Kenya during the annual National Science and Technology Exhibition.
While she had been happy teaching and supervising her students at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Prof Muigai was excited when she was asked to join the judging panel for the competition.
“I am very lucky to have been involved from the beginning. The first project of YSK in Kenya was in 2018 and at that time, I worked under the chief judge who was supporting YSK from Tanzania. In 2019, YSK had grown enough to have its own judges here in Kenya and that’s when I became the chief judge,” she says.
During the selection, the judges must ensure that their judgment goes beyond the prominence or classification of the schools and maintain their focus on innovative, exciting and new things as the students set out to solve pressing issues in society.
Prof Muigai says they look for students who are solving problems at the local level using local methods, or those solving old problems with new ideas.
For Prof Muigai, the stars of the exhibition are the students, who have been producing excellent and highly innovative projects that can be scaled up for use The winners are mentored at Strathmore University, where the project leads are mentored as their work is incubated and refined further.
Some of the latest winners include Swabrina Chepkemoi and Marieta Halima from St. Thomas Secondary School in Kilifi, who were crowned Young Scientists for 2021 for their best innovation.
The Form Two students developed a Rapid Covix-Breathalyzer testing kit, with the aim of helping developing countries contain the spread of infectious viral diseases such as Ebola and Covid-19. The duo created a locally assembled testing kit that can provide real-time results.
In second place were Collins Odhiambo and Faith Inzauli of Joyland Special School in Kisumu, with their Motorcycle Fingerprint Access innovation, which seeks to curb the rising cases of motorcycle theft and accidents across the country.
The 2020 competition was held online because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Previous competitions would culminate in a colourful national exhibition at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi.
From her vantage point as the Chief Judge in YSK, Prof. Muigai says the future of science in Kenya looks bright.
“Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), as well as Behavioral Sciences are an integral part of our development. If we want to become a developed country, we must not abandon STEM. If you look at any developed country in the world, they have taken science and technology seriously,” she says.
Prof. Muigai encourages students who have come up with innovative projects to speak about them and urges those in authority and influential positions to support the young scientists advance their inventions through financial support and training. She adds that, very soon, we shall experience a direct impact of these exhibitions.
