ESMN Impact Grant Projects 2019/21

Project name

Description

Country

Organisation(s)

Skilling Young Women in Uganda through Housing innovation

Nearly 70% of Uganda's Urban-population are women who live in slums that are overcrowded &often lack basic infrastructure such as water & sanitation.

This project supports Smart Havens Africa to enhance participation of young women in the engineering sector and safely build affordable, sustainable homes for low income women.

Uganda

Smart Havens Africa, Kabale District Local Government, Batur Engineering Services, Bagson Technical Services

NYCSTEP: S-CSOC-Cyber Lab Project

Ghanaian businesses continue to face serious threats posed by cybercriminals. Cybersecurity Engineers uses multi-disciplinary approach to develop systems to protect, secure, and defend critical infrastructure in cyberspace.

However, in spite of a clear demand, the lack of learning facilities and high cost of training mean skillful cyber-engineers are difficult to find.

The National Youths in Cyber Security, Technology, and Engineering Project (NYCSTEP) will promote teaching and learning of cybersecurity engineering in Ghana to help bridge this gap.

Ghana

Institute of Cybersecurity & Information Assurance (CYBERGHANA), Sunyani Technical University, Bolgatanga Polytechnic, AED Cybersecurity Ltd

PRIOR EXPOSURE TO ENGINEERING THROUGH INVENTION EDUCATION, EXPLORE CAFÉ AND PRE-COLLEGE SESSIONS IN KENYA

How do we support the delivery of skills and build capacities of aspiring engineers? The Invention Education, EXPLORE Café and Pre-College Sessions will give prior experiential exposure to engineering and tackle a key driver to a 20% drop out and low uptake rates of engineering courses by students. 

Kenya

Technical University of Kenya, Murangá University of Technology, ISCHOOLCLIMATE CONSULTANTS LTD, KIANGUNYI GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL, STEMEX EA

Engineering for Industry (E4I)

Nigeria imports about 95% of the engineering products and solutions she consumes. There are also high unemployment rates among Nigerian engineering graduates and declining interest in engineering careers among school children.

The E4I project aims to drive an industrial revolution in Nigeria through capacity building in engineering innovation, indigenous products development and manufacturing. 

Nigeria

Clintonel Innovation Centre (CIC), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ACCIMA)

Kër Science

The Kër Science program will promote science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) skills to encourage critical thinking and scientific literacy from a young age.

Kër Science will introduces students to how different scientific, technological and artistic disciplines can be combined to create new housing which that are safe, modern and sustainable whilst building on indigenous knowledge.

Senegal

SeeSD (Science Education Exchange for Sustainable Development))

Collaborative Open Design and Manufacturing (CODM) to Enhance Capacity in Product Design and Manufacture

Collaborative Open Design and Manufacturing (CODM) will brings together key players in the product design and manufacturing value chain - such as Learners, educators, training institutions, industry and policy makers - to innovate and implement sustainable energy solutions to rural communities, currently bedevilled by serious energy shortages. 

Botswana

Botswana International University of Science and Technology, University of Botswana, University of Zambia

Improving operation and maintenance capacities of solid waste management contractors in Lebanon

Lebanon has largely relied on mechanical biological treatment as the main form of treatment of mixed municipal solid waste and sanitary landfills in some areas of the country.

Most of these facilities are operated by  contractors which have struggled to properly manage their operational effectiveness and efficiency, resulting in a low rate of material recovery, poor quality of recovered materials, excessive environmental emissions as well as poor landfill operations management. 

This project aims to build capacity of local contractors in accordance with the Best Operational Practices (BOPs) for safer operation and maintenance of the facilities.

Lebanon

Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform

STEM4Africa (S4A) Project

11% of Ghana's population are 10-15years old and 41% of Africa's population is below 15. Equipping young students with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills will be key for Africa’s growth.

The STEM4Africa (S4A) project, will inculcate engineering/STEM skills in upper primary and junior high school children between 10-15 years in rural Ghana. 1Billion Africa will capacitate the students using the innovative ‘Science Set’ toolkit developed by Dext Technology Limited, an Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation awardee.

Ghana

1Billion Africa (1BA), Dext Technology Limited, Sankofa Mentorship Hub - Synergies Institute Ghana, D S Dayta Solutions

Providing 4th Industrial Revolution Skills For The Engineering Industry

Rapid technological advances have reduced the half-life of a job skill to circa 5 years (World Economic Forum), making it vital to up-skill the existing engineering and technician workforce and enhance their ability to leverage emerging technologies.

This project will develop and implement online and in-person courses on artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity, predominately targetting female engineering professionals in Africa.

South Africa

WomEng, Vodacom

Additive E-Platform for Digital Skills Development in Construction

This project will develop an open access E-learning platform for postgraduate engineers to develop knowledge in groundbreaking and disruptive innovations such as Scan2BIM, Scan for Additive Manufacturing (Scan4AM), Additive Design Skills (3D Printing) and project management best practices.

The partnership aims to capitalise on knowledge exchange between the institutes and expand the E-Learning to support Laos and Cambodia in offering continued professional development (CPD) for those already working in the construction industry. 

Viet Nam

National University of Civil Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Vietnam BIM Academic Forum, Ministry of Construction, Vietnam

Enhancing engineering skills for Ugandan engineering professionals to contribute to effective humanitarian response

Engineers can contribute vital support humanitarian response – water, sanitation, and infrastructure and cross sectoral project management. 

Uganda has a large refugee population of 1.5 million and its critical water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), shelter and infrastructure are reported to be under significant strain (UNHCR), especially in refugee camps.

This project will investigate specific capacity gaps among professional engineers with respect to humanitarian response and develop and deliver a training programme for over 2000 Ugandan engineers to better prepare them for humanitarian action.

RedR will use the learning from this pilot project to roll out the project in other countries which are vulnerable to disasters.

United Kingdom

RedR, UK, Ugandan Institute of Professional Engineers (UIPE)

A Fire Safe Africa (AFSA) - Creating fire engineers for Africa's needs

This project seeks to sustainably establish the first post-graduate fire safety engineering (FSE) degree in Africa. Online courses and taught material will be developed to help train engineers who can keep African infrastructure, suburbs, businesses, economies, and even the poor, safe from the devastating effects of fire.

The courses developed will be rolled out in South Africa, Zambia and with other African partners to develop capacity in this extremely valuable and scarce skill area. Content developed will be shared with the fire service to assist in training firefighters.

South Africa

Stellenbosch University, University of Zambia

Innovative and Sustainable Management of Industrial Parks in Ethiopia (ISMIP-Ethiopia)

Development of industrial parks is one of the core element of national industrialisation strategy of the Government of Ethiopia.

While this is very much needed development, more concerted and significant effort needs to be made to enhance the effective contribution of industrial parks development to safe and sustainable industrialization of the country.

This project focuses on building the capacity of three industrial parks for their gradual transition to an eco-industrial parks and utilization of the industrial parks as innovation hubs for development of distributed economy networks.

Ethiopia

Ethiopian Society of Chemical Engineers, School of Chemical and Bio Engineering, Industrial Parks Development Corporation

Raising the Quality of Engineering Education in Indonesia

Indonesia suffers from a poor quality of engineering education at tertiary level.

This project will engage Malaysian experts to raise the standard of engineering education in Indonesia, and assist them to meet the standard of the Washington Accord through training and mentoring of 100 selected Indonesian engineering lecturers on Outcome-Based Education (OBE) and Student-Centred Learning (SCL) approaches, 20 of whom will later recieve training-of-trainers to impart their knowledge further afield. 

Malaysia

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Promoting STEM education and closing the digital divide among primary school students in Malaysia through the Junior Innovate programme

Junior Innovate (www.juniorinnovate.asia) is an annual programme that promotes STEM education and catalyses the maker movement in primary schools in Malaysia.

The programme culminates in a national-level competition where students submit projects developed using open-source embedded system and software. By allowing students to develop projects of their interest, they become invested in learning and exploration.

This project will aim to take this programme to less industrialised states of Malaysia where it is not yet active and where education outcomes are relatively lower.

Malaysia

Chumbaka Sdn Bhd

Capacity Building and National Standard Development for Electric Vehicle's Battery Safety in Indonesia

After a presidential decree on their regulation, Indonesia is poised to take advantage of the electric vehicle (EV) revolution.

However, EV implementation also has its own risk, especially battery explosion incident caused by battery failure.

Working with the electric Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service operator in Jakarta an electric bus car body manufacturing company, this project aims to enhance the education of EV's battery safety by developing the online learning platform and inform the development of the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) of EV battery safety.

Indonesia

National Center for Sustainable Transportation Technology, Transportasi Jakarta  Corp., Karoseri Laksana Corp.

Solar PhotoVoltaics Training for Technicians in Rural Kenya

Solar photovoltaics (PV) are an important electrification tool for off-grid localities in Kenya, however its adoption its adoption is hambered by a lack of skilled technicians.

This project aims to significantly increase the number of skilled technicians in the country and address capacity gaps in the design, installation and maintenance of solar PV systems. These capacity gaps lead to poor installations which are a safety hazard and cause economic losses to the consumers. 

To ensure sustainability, the project will aim to train individuals from training institutions and technicians’ unions who will then take part in training subsequent cohorts.

Kenya

Strathmore University Energy Research Centre, Girls in Engineering

Building high tech engineering and design skills at Nepal’s first FabLab

In early 2020, Nepal’s first FabLab will be completed with support from the international community, creating an opportunity to build the engineering capabilities of a new generation of young Nepalese in high tech manufacturing, entrepreneurship and design.

This project will support the Nepal FabLab to build a team of skilled local staff and provide a range of courses and workshops to diverse participants from young engineers, entrepreneurs, industrial product designers and students.

This will help Nepali industries which are struggling to find quality product designers and developers and emerging entrepreneurs who require local product design services.

Nepal

Nepal Communitere, Field ready

Open-source CAD for Africa

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software is a cornerstone that enabled wide scale use of PCs in Mechanical Engineering design to disruptive effect.

In the large, African educational and small business communities do not have the resources to obtain and support commercial CAD software. This lack of resources also eliminates all chances for Africa to train skilled CAD users.

This project will look to leverage the increasingly available open-source CAD softwares and develop accreditation and training modules adapted to the local industrial needs to support the uptake of digital manufacturing in South Africa and the wider continent.

South Africa

University of Pretoria, National Technology Implementation Platform (NTIP)

Kenya Construction Quality & Skills Improvement Programme (KCASQIP)

Over the last three decades, several cases of building failures have been reported in Kenya and a preliminary study has classified circa 8,700 current buildings as unsafe. and attributed this to weaknesses in quality assurance checks.

The use of technology platforms in construction activities, up-skilling of quality assurance officers and enhancement of partnerships among agencies with mandate on Quality Assurance are key activities to tackling this safety challenge.

This project aims to build capacity of QA officers and leverage  emerging technologies to improve levels of compliance to national standards of building/structural integrity. 

Kenya

National Construction Authority, ARUP

SDGs-challenges based learning in engineering curricula at the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia: Enhancing the engineering skills in a developing country

Colombia has tremendous potential to use Aquatic Renewable Energy to tackle energy access issues constraining off-grid coastal communities.

This project will reorient the engineering curriculum around community-based challenges and will strengthen collaborations amongst a consortium of UK/Colombian partners that bring academic and practical expertise in the development and deployment of marine energy generation.

Colombia

Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Aquatera Ltd, Empresas Publicas de Medellin - EPM, Innova Solar Colombia S.A.S. (ISC)