Two young learners from Mpumalanga were announced as the winners of the HIP2B² 3M Innovation Challenge in Sandton, thanks to their fire-fighting robot.
Trevor Simelane and Joseph Mdluli were inspired to create something that would help firefighters tackle fires following a fire in the Johannesburg city centre which killed three firefighters. They developed a concept for a robot that firefighters would be able to control to help extinguish fires while keeping firefighters safe.
The Innovation Challenge, now in its seventh year, was created to encourage young learners to become interested in science, technology and innovation. The challenge begins at the beginning of the year and, with the help of teachers, the teams develop their ideas and submit them for consideration. The top three teams are then invited to Sandton to further develop and present their ideas.
Cathryn Payne, the managing director of HIP2B², said it had been incredible to see the challenge grow and watch what some of the learners have managed to come up with over the years.
Payne highlighted that one of their goals was to create a partnership to help these young learners take their ideas forward and further develop them. “Innovation is quite an unusual concept for a learner to grasp, so it’s really to instil a culture of innovation among school learners to show them that they can apply what they learn in school to be innovative and come up with ideas.”
The top three teams, which also included Nomvula and Elizabeth Ledwaba and Hudson Mashaninga and Thokozani Mlauzi, presented their ideas at the 3M head office before the winners were announced.
The Ledwaba sisters, who came in second, came up with an idea to create a solar energy bookcase which could light up a desk, even when there is no electricity. Hudson and Thokozani developed a backpack to store litter to encourage learners to avoid littering when there are no dustbins around.
Michael Dzivhani, a technical leader for 3M South Africa, said, “This year has been really different, it’s been outstanding and unique.”
Dzivhani aded that while some of the contestants had less energy than previous years, they had created unique ideas. He highlighted that Trevor and Joseph had come up with a brilliant idea as the world heads into the fourth industrial revolution.
Details: HIP2B² cathryn@hip2b2.com
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