KAMPALA – A team of 5 students code named VepoX has won a grant of Euros75,000 (UGX 300million) for an innovation that addresses water quality in rural areas. 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 participated in the Climate Launchpad Global Competition held in the Netherlands on November 14 and 15, 2019.
Nine teams in Uganda were selected to participate in the National competition held in Kampala.
From this, three teams were selected to engage in the regional challenge in Nairobi, two of which; Wet Technik and VEPOX, came from the College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT), Makerere University. The teams participated in the regional Finals in Nairobi and were selected to go on to the global finals in Amsterdam.
Professor Barnabas Nawangwe the Makerere University Vice-Chancellor praised the group for the brilliant idea and said his administration will not relent in supporting young researchers to realize their dreams.
“I am thrilled by the news of 5 undergraduate students from the College of Engineering, Design, Art, and Technology who have won a research grant of Euros 75000 (UGX 300 Million). The administration will not relent in supporting young researchers to realize their dreams. I thank lecturers who have mentored and supported them,” he noted.
VEPOX was shortlisted among the final 16 teams from a group of 130 teams. The 16 teams were entered into the EIT Climate-KIC accelerator program, where each of the 16 is to receive up to Euros 75,000.
The Wet Technik team is addressing challenges of greywater around the university, using a constructed wetland innovative approach. The students have built a greywater treatment facility at Africa Hall as part of innovation to help improve water use efficiency and avail more water for irrigation. They look to making the system small so that it can be used in congested urban settings.
The students are mentored by a team of lecturers under the Problem-Based learning project.
