Good Day my fellow viwers. Earlier this year and again in September, I brought you information on this forum about the first private science, computer and technology secondary school in Nigeria called Shalom Science and Technology Academy (SSTAC). In fact, the school was actually commissioned by His Excellency Governor IfeanyiUgwuanyi (GburuGburu) in September 2016.
Many people made remarks, some positive, some negative and some on the border line of doubt. Well last week, as the first term was coming to an end, I got a call from the school, that I should come and check out an innovation which the Engineering Department of the secondary school built, that will revolutionalise our mobile phone usage. They call it, The rechargeable Mobile Phone Charger. I turned up on Monday the 12/12/2016 and meet with the Director of Admin of the school
The device was produced by the schools Engineering department which houses the “Basic Technology” workshop and “Automobile and Mechanics” workshop which they have here in their our school.
The device which is a bit similar but different from power banks will be used in charging our electronics devices, If there is light, then you can plug in your rechargeable mobile charger and it charges your phone as well as recharges. When the light goes off, then it charges your mobile device as if there was light.
This is a wonderful innovation that should be praised and supported especially when the idea is coming from JSS1 students and they are properly guided by their technology teacher.
They further said that there is plan to commercialize the product after further constructions to make it sleek and create a design for it.
Find below the Images and an excerpt of my interview with the director of Admin.
Interview with the Director of Admin.
Your School invited me to come and see and witness a new product?
You are first of all welcome. We invited you because we developed (innovated) a new product that we really don’t think is available at the moment, but it is an important innovation especially in a society like ours that is dealing with haphazard power supply.
What is this product?
It is a “rechargeable mobile phone charger”or “rechargeable mobile device charger” which our Engineering Department innovatively produced.
Engineering Department?
Yes I know you were wondering what an engineering department has to do with a secondary school. The reality is, we have grouped our facilities in such a way that it represents exactly what it does. So our Engineering department houses “Basic Technology” workshop and “Automobile and Mechanics” workshop which we have here in our school.
When you say rechargeable mobile phone charger what do you mean?
Thank you for that question, because in essence what we have produced here at SSTAC is what we know today as a power bank but we have also incorporated into a phone charger, therefore it eliminates the need for an external power bank hence saving users money, time and the stress of carrying around bulky items. Now what we have successfully done here, is what I predict that before 5years time, mobile phone producers will begin to incorporate into mobile phone chargers. But we are the first to have successfully built it to the best of my knowledge. We have not reinvented the wheel, but we have taken the wheel and innovated upon it.
So you are saying that with this, I don’t need to buy a N5,000 power bank for my phone?
That is exactly what I am saying. Now imagine in a society like ours, where constant electricity has become elusive for so long and every mobile phone or every portable device came with rechargeable chargers, the need for power banks will be drastically reduced. For example, a few years ago, mobile phones did not have cameras, but today nobody or majority of the people do not buy cameras anymore because of the cameras on our phones which most times have better pixels than stand-alone cameras. In every engineering project or I should say project in general, the first question is functionality. If the product functions then you can begin to work things like aesthetics, durability etc. We have ran a few tests on this product and it functions. So over the next coming weeks we will be working further on improving this product and designing a potable package for it.
So what is the technology behind it?
Hahaha of course you don’t expect me to answer that do you? But I will tell you this. If there is light, then you can plug in your rechargeable mobile charger and it charges your phone as well as recharges. When the light goes off, then it charges your mobile device as if there was light.
So is this the sort of Innovations you will be doing in your school?
Absolutely! As you know, I am a British Trained Mechanical Engineer, so things like this make me happy and I feel in my comfort zone working on projects like this. The mission of the school is clearly stated “Developing Nigeria Scientifically and technologically, through early exposure of children to basic scientific and technological concepts”. So that is what SSTAC does. We have so many innovative minds out there and having a wonderful place like this where such ideas can be put to work and brought to reality is what a society like ours need. I can assure you that the “SSTAC Farmers Department”, “SSTAC JETS (Science) Department, The “SSTAC Wiz Kids (ICT) department” and others are working on fabulous innovations and inventions. I think next year, there will be a Summer Camp held in SSTAC for Kids based on Technology and Robotics. This I hope will be open to all who meet the criteria but for now it’s still in the planning stage.
My Conclusion.
Wonderful…This is serious o. If a school can start from early on to set a bench mark for itself and to revolutionalise what we know as Education especially secondary school education, then maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel . Hmmmm a school that trains students to begin to look at our society and begin to create or proffer solutions to it’s numerous problems, then I am hopeful. If I was of secondary school age, God knows I will do anything to be in that school.
If you want to contact the school Feel free to call them on 09099256745 or 08037786597 or visit their website on www.sstac.sch.ng. They admit students only from JSS1 (Year 7) and it is a boarding only secondary school.
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