Despite a rough couple of weeks at Makerere University as students and police clashed again over the 15% increment of tuition that was proposed by the administrators, five students attached to the university were busy cooking up an ingenious contraption that would not only win them an award of euros 75,000 (Shs300 million) but also change the water engineering sphere as we know it.
The team designed a water filtration technology code-named Vepox Filter that uses activated Carbon and Functionalized sand in order to make water from surface water sources portable for drinking especially in rural areas.
The students attached to the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), were entered into the ClimateLaunchpad Global Competition that was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands from November 14-15, 2019 and had to compete with other teams from within the region of which three groups including VEPOX and Wet Technik, both from CEDAT, were selected to continue onto the next round that was held in Nairobi Kenya.
Vepox filter is a water filtration technology that uses activated Carbon and Functionalized sand in order to make water from surface water sources portable for drinking especially in rural areas. Such an invention is highly welcome not only in the Netherlands where the finals were held but also across the whole of Africa where many under developed countries struggle with poverty and impoverished communities where there isn’t an adequate supply of water and electricity.
The introduction of the VEPOX filter would do a great deal in reducing the risks of diseases contraction and productivity.
The team that has been trained to tackle various issues and gaps in their communities using their education are part of the new schools of thought introduced at Makerere, particularly the Problem-Based learning project where they will continue to be mentored by lecturers and other leaders in the field.
