More than 100 secondary students have taken part in Kenya Science and Engineering Fair (KSEF) at the Khamis Secondary School in Mombasa County, where they showcased remarkable innovation projects.
The Kenya Science and Engineering Fair, offers school students across the republic, a chance to become motivated by science and to discover scientific research as it encourages innovative thinking, for practical solutions in everyday life.
The President had earlier stated during Kenya Innovation Week expo (KIW) on December 6th 2022 at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi, that innovation has the power to catalyze productivity, generate gainful employment and create affluence for Kenyans.
He had noted that it is through innovation that it was possible to easily re-imagine and re-engineer the economy of the country.
According to KSEF, Mombasa County Executive Secretary, Cecil Musembe, about 39 schools that qualified from the different Sub-counties, showcased their schemes before judges under different categories.
Musembe said that KSEF, which was earlier known as Science Congress, did away with setting annual themes, so as to allow the student to venture into different fields without limiting their potential unlike the previous panel of Science Congress.
“Considering the mesmerizing presentations that we are getting from the students, I can tell you as a matter of fact, that we really have a future full of potential and electrifying innovations from the young scientists,” Musembe revealed.
Formerly, the events mainly involved projects in Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Biology, Agriculture, Computer Science and Applied Sciences.
Currently, according to Musembe, there are 13 different fields for the students to base their innovations such as Mathematics, Physics, Biology and Biotechnology, Environmental science and management, Technology and Applied Technology and Transportation, Computer Science, Agriculture, Food economics and Home economics, Behavioral Science and lastly Robotics.
The Government, Musembi noted, is very keen on nurturing a culture of innovation to accelerate economic growth in the country, through Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA).
KeNIA has unveiled a digital marketplace for Kenyan innovators, researchers and startups to easily connect with their respective investors through Kenya Innovation Bridge (KIB), whose launch was profoundly supported by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The regional level of this competition is programmed to take place in Voi between 12th and 16th of April 2023 for the top innovative projects.
By Michael Maluta