Students display creativity, innovation at science fair

Two students from St Mathias Mulumba Girls in Nyamira have invented a metal recycling machine designed to process scrap metal efficiently while minimising environmental impact.

The innovative machine by Christine Bosibori and Liz Nicholas, with the help of their teacher Hassan Karamu James, aims to promote sustainability.

Showcasing their invention during this year’s Nyanza Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Nyambari Boys in Nyamira County, the students said through experimentation and analysis, the machine’s effectiveness was validated.

Results showed a recycling efficiency of 87.11 per cent indicating its capability to convert metal waste into reusable material, thereby reducing land pollution.

With a sustainable fuel consumption rate of approximately 857.4 millilitres per hour, the machine efficiently utilises waste engine oil, contributing to resource conservation.

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“Processing metal scrap at a rate of approximately 1,306 grams per hour, the machine supports domestic industries and creates employment opportunities in metal recycling. Moreover, the use of waste engine oil as fuel effectively reduced waste and promoted sustainability, aiding environmental conservation efforts,” the students said.

Samuel Okello and Derrick Abuga of Maranda, through their IntelHub innovation, seek to innovate an online platform designated to help students use their time at home carrying out beneficial academic activities that ultimately contribute positively to their performance.

The creation of the platform, under the patronage of Victor Odundo, serves solely to solve problems students face in their studies, especially at home where they find it nearly impossible to open a book, much less read it.

The platform, under Computer Science, provides for a teacher-learner engagement. A teacher can assign a student an assignment, undertake it, and return it for marking within a short period.

The school presented 10 items in different categories including creating a suitable, cost-effective, and acceptable bionic prosthetic.

Frankline Oganda and Moses Kipng’etich of Nyambari Boys High School presented research on the preparation of ethane gas from banana bract.

The students, with the help of their patron Justine Binyanya, came up with a cheap way of acquiring ethane gas. The project requires a banana bract extract (fresh flowers) which contains natural ethanol.

The flowers are crushed using mortar and pestle, reacted with concentrated Sulphuric (VI) acid, subjected to heat to produce ethane gas, and collected using an overwater method.

Industries obtain gas using different means; reacting ethanol with concentrated Sulphuric (VI) acid and getting ethane gas and reacting concentrated Sulphuric (VI) acid by use of catalyst aluminium oxide to obtain ethane gas.

The method suits less equipped institutions to do away with the shortage of ethanol. About 20 grammes of banana extracts used could be able to produce 50 centimeters cubic of ethene gas when taken through hydrolysis processes.