Reports hailing from Rwanda states that five girls out of eight; 4 from Rwanda and 1 from Kenya – with innovative ideas, were on Thursday selected as the finalists for the first ever Miss Geek Africa, a competition designed to inspire African girls to be part of solving the Africa’s challenges using technology and encourage them to choose a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
According to reports by The News Times, eight girls pitched their projects to a high level panel of judges and in front of hundreds of the delegates who graced the ongoing 2017 Transform Africa Summit in Rwanda, including ICT, and business leaders, after which the jury chose five with prospective projects.
Rwanda topped the list with four out of the five girls. The second round saw the five finalists battling it out to see whose project convinces the judges to be crowned Miss Geek Africa. The overall winner of the 2017 Miss Geek Africa will be unveiled today.
Just before pitching session, finalists underwent a week-long intensive development programme to equip them with presentation, public speaking and critical thinking skills to ensure they are well prepared for finals.[related-posts]
The Top Five Finalists:
Chrystal Omany – Green Hills Academy in Kigali
Developed a ‘Girl Safety Project’ which aims at bringing sustainable solutions, especially in case of emergency through information access system.
Leah Akimana – University of Rwanda’s College of Science and Technology
Developed a digital mobile app, she called ‘Bus System Simulator’ that uses geo-location technology and aims at improving means of public transportation in the country, in particular Kigali where more than 2 million people use buses in their daily lives.
Daniella Uwase – Riviera High School
Developed a ‘MedApp’ application that seeks to cut the cost of medication through enabling users to access a cocktail of medication and prescriptions without having to move from one pharmacy to another, saving lives and money wasted on journeys.
Delphine Micomyiza – Groupe Scholaire Notre Dame De Lourdes
She reckons that by fixing sensor-enabled water meters to the taps could permanently eliminate water theft. With her project she named ‘Water Track’, a digital solution that she developed to save 33% of all water related expenses in Rwanda lost to water theft.
Ruth Njeri Waiganjo – University of Nairobi in Kenya
Bringing about an innovative solution to respond to transport problems like frequent accidents through ‘Safe Drive’. Ruth’s solution collects data through a mobile app and sensors, analyses it and the output is the profile of the driver. The system is able to know the behavior of drivers.
