Young innovator Stewart Nankhumwa explaining how his WiFi innovation works
* Our main target when we identify these young people is to protect and value to their innovations
* This program runs over a year, even two years, and the plan is to cherish their ability
By Victor Singano Jnr, Correspondent
Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) says it is committed to monitor and provide enough protection to young Malawians who have various innovation ideas in order to allow them advance their skills and ensure that their talent is not stolen by other people.
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MUST Vice -Chancellor Address Malata made the assurance on Thursday at the campus when awarding scholarships to five secondary and primary school students — under a program called ‘Junior Talent Scholars’ — which is aimed at identifying and bringing primary and secondary school talented innovators at the University and offer them an opportunity to showcase their innovations and inspire them.
Malata said MUST values every innovations shown by students and that for them to benefit from their talents becomes a challenge due to lack of support and motivation — hence deserve to be given total protection as well as adding value to their innovations so that it can reach the international standard.
“Our main target when we identify these young people is to protect and value to their innovations and this is the mandate of the University,” she said. “This program runs over a year, even two years, and the plan is to cherish their ability to come up with ideas that can help the nation in every sector because we know that some of them may not make it to the University.”
MUST Director for the Institute of Industrial Research and Innovation, David Mkwambisi said for the innovations to be commercialized, there is need for the proper system to achieve the goal and as such the University understands that nurturing the innovations will contribute to the Malawi’s pillar number two for MW2063 agenda — which is under industrialization.
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One of the innovators, 23-year-old Stewart Nankhumwa of High Profile Private Secondary School, who innovated a WiFi antenna, expressed his joy for being one of the selected students to be awarded the scholarship.
He promised to utilize the scholarship opportunity in order to gain knowledge and get new ideas which will help him to be able to produce quality and standard innovations.
The other selected students are Innocent Mandira of Likuni Boys Secondary School (thermo electro stove, bifunction filler, manure processor); Nedson Beula of Chigoneka CDSS (flood monitoring system) and Tomaida Banda of Chipoza Primary School (fan innovator).
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