The Egerton University banner was flown high during the just concluded World Engineering Day Hackathon after a project by two of its students scooped third place globally. The virtual event was held on 4 March 2022. The final year students from the Faculty of Engineering and Technology presented their project dubbed Hyapak that had been shortlisted alongside nine other projects from across the world that had made it to the finals.
The duo, Joseph Nguthiru and Charles Kinyua, from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, shared the medal podium with projects from Philippines and Canada, which had won 1st and 2nd place respectively. Apart from the global recognition, the students also received EUR 1000 for finishing second runners up.
“It has been a long journey. From being stuck in a lake to getting international recognition. It shows how big the gap is for youth innovations especially in combating climate change,” said Mr Nguthiru.
The HyaPak Project focuses on transformation of water hyacinth into an economic beneficial resource for communities by converting the stubborn aquatic weed into biodegradable alternatives for single use plastic products.
“This is a huge honour for us and we are really grateful for the milestone. We have had a lot of people who have supported us this far and we are grateful to them all,” Mr. Kinyua said.
The two students, who had also been awarded the East Africa Youth for Climate Action Award last year for the same project, are now aiming at furthering their research and developing the Hyapak project into a business model.
