An innovator just invented a solar-powered controller chager. . .
“Behold one of the most intelligent, most efficient and
sustainability-compliant solar-powered charge controllers in the world. And it is proudly Nigerian! The system efficiently converts solar energy into electrochemical energy to charge a battery and it
has an intelligent battery supervisory mechanism to monitor the state of charge of the battery to preserve its life cycle. It is a modular solar PV solution with capability to power a 12V LED bulb for indoor lighting and charge a mobile phone. All the hard work and long hours spent in the laboratory designing the circuitry and methodically testing its functionality have yielded a working prototype of a powerful device that can potentially be used by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
My supervisor said to me after I showed him the final design, "....wow, Leo, you have gone several steps above students that did similar project in the past...."
I have always wanted to invent and innovate something utilitarian that can positively impact humanity and make life generally better for mankind. I instinctively feel it is a moral obligation for me to contribute to the continual motion of wheel of progress of mankind by being a part of the cog that drives development with inventions and creative endeavors.
Without Michael Faraday who pioneered electromagnetism; without Nikola Tesla whose creative endeavors produced alternative current (AC), electric motors, radio, wireless communication, robotics; without Isaac Newton bequeathed us with his discoveries - gravity, laws of motions, calculus; without Albert Einstein's special and general relativity, propagation of light, concept of mass-energy equivalence that paved way for the famous e=mc^2 --- our lives would probably have remained confined within the world of antiquity of our forebears.
I am forever grateful to my boss, Vice-Chancellor Professor Mobolaji Aluko who gave me the opportunity to study abroad and specifically recommended that I go to Nottingham if I wanted to study renewable energy engineering.
And I thank the University of Nottingham for consequently offering me and my cohort first class engineering education which gave me the springboard to actualize my lofty aspiration of being an inventor and innovator. They provided an enabling environment for my natural creative dynamic to flourish.
I also thank my alma mater, the University of Wolverhampton, for preparing me for the rigorous academic onslaught that I encountered at Nottingham. It was at Wolverhampton that I first learnt how to design and program a robot. The renowned professor of robotics at Wolverhampton, Professor Ian Sillitoe, always rehashed a military dictum to us, "prepare hard; fight easy". I also remember the impact of Professor Chris Nwogboso who taught us "ideation and creativity" at Wolverhampton.
With God preserving my life, for the next half a century, I would always continue to be part of creative engineering force and frontier that will drive development in Africa through technological innovations and creative endeavours. Instead of going to abroad to "BUY" and import technologies, we as engineers are suppose to "design, build, maintain" technologies for our consumption. The solutions to our problems will not come from Europe, America, Asia or anywhere else; they are within us. We will walk in our own pace and develop the solution to our problems. If you are an African with science or engineering background, and you have passion and inclination to create and innovate technologies, please join us today!” . .
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of Armstrongug