Pascal Katana displays a component of the smart charger powered by a bicycle dynamo.
After inventing the dynamo powered 'smart charger', a device that allows a bicycle rider to charge a mobile phone by peddling, Pascal Katana, a student at the University of Nairobi, has continued to receive customers from as far off as the Ivory Coast in Western Africa.
At a price of US$4.50 (Ksh. 350), a customer takes home a gadget that charges a mobile phone through electrical energy generated by the spin of a bicycle wheel. This helps cut down on costs as most rural folks pay as much as US$2 (Ksh.152) to have their phones recharged.
The final year student told IslamOnline.net that the gadget uses the physics of induction to produce a voltage as high as 12 watts, but can be regulated to prevent any harm to the mobile phone.
"As the bicycle dynamo rotates it activates an inbuilt coil of wire which in turn cuts the magnetic field," explained Katana.
"This interaction produces voltage which I tap into [using] my system, compress[ing] it while ensuring that it is continuous. I then regulate it into a flat range so that it will not affect the phone."
For this young man, his inventions are just the beginning of many more to come, although he hopes to work for a big multinational company after he graduates.
His drive to invent was inspired by the problems he saw his fellow villagers encounter back home in Coast Province, as their mobile phones would remain uncharged for many hours due to the lack of electricity in rural areas.
"I sat down and said let me do something to help my people back at home because personally I come from a rural area," said Katana.
"During holidays I travel home but it is a very cumbersome life back there. A phone just dies off and for those who cannot afford to pay a recharge fee, it can remain dead for days."
More Gender Friendly
"I sat down and said let me do something to help my people back at home because personally I come from a rural area."
After inventing the 'smart charger', Katana has made another innovation that he says is more gender friendly. The gadget, which he calls a P-Charger, is an indoor device that uses heat generated from a hydro carbon to produce enough electricity to charge a mobile phone.
According to Katana, the new invention will be more useful to women because they constitute a consumer segment that does not use bicycles, and which is mostly confined to indoor tasks in both rural and urban settings.
"I felt my last invention was not gender sensitive because most women in rural Kenya do not [ride] a bicycle," said the 22-year-old electrical engineering student.
"I believe the P-Chager will serve these women because it multitasks the power generated to charge a mobile phone, operate a radio system, as well as serve as a source of light in rural areas."
Lack of Support
Pascal Katana lights a candle to produce energy from a hydro-carbon source.
By installing a candle into a kerosene lamp Katana has developed a system that has a peddler element that produces voltage when activated with a certain amount of heat.
"The voltage produced by this system can be quite powerful depending on the size of the peddler," said Katana.
He explained that the voltage converts into a Direct Current (DC) sufficient to power any electronic gadget, but which can be stabilized using a transistor, a resistor and a voltage regulator.
Apart from a kerosene lamp and a candle, the youth with an engaging wit says he recycles most of the materials used to assemble the gadget from damaged motherboards, radio and television systems.
However, some of the equipment he uses such as a laser cutter and a micro controller are outsourced from overseas through the university's partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.
He says the government of Kenya does not appear to be keen on supporting bright but needy university students in terms of funding or in protecting their innovations through the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
"I wrote a proposal to the Ministry of Higher Education a month ago requesting them to support my work through funding but up to now I have not received any response," said Katana.
"I also wrote to the Kenya Industrial Property Institute requesting them to help me patent my work but so far they have not appeared to be helpful."
"Sometimes it is the lecturers in the university who dig into their pockets to support me when I am in need of finances because the university claims that my projects cannot be funded because they are not institutional projects."
After inventing the dynamo powered 'smart charger', a device that allows a bicycle rider to charge a mobile phone by peddling, Pascal Katana, a student at the University of Nairobi, has continued to receive customers from as far off as the Ivory Coast in Western Africa.
At a price of US$4.50 (Ksh. 350), a customer takes home a gadget that charges a mobile phone through electrical energy generated by the spin of a bicycle wheel. This helps cut down on costs as most rural folks pay as much as US$2 (Ksh.152) to have their phones recharged.
The final year student told IslamOnline.net that the gadget uses the physics of induction to produce a voltage as high as 12 watts, but can be regulated to prevent any harm to the mobile phone.
"As the bicycle dynamo rotates it activates an inbuilt coil of wire which in turn cuts the magnetic field," explained Katana.
"This interaction produces voltage which I tap into [using] my system, compress[ing] it while ensuring that it is continuous. I then regulate it into a flat range so that it will not affect the phone."
For this young man, his inventions are just the beginning of many more to come, although he hopes to work for a big multinational company after he graduates.
His drive to invent was inspired by the problems he saw his fellow villagers encounter back home in Coast Province, as their mobile phones would remain uncharged for many hours due to the lack of electricity in rural areas.
"I sat down and said let me do something to help my people back at home because personally I come from a rural area," said Katana.
"During holidays I travel home but it is a very cumbersome life back there. A phone just dies off and for those who cannot afford to pay a recharge fee, it can remain dead for days."
More Gender Friendly
"I sat down and said let me do something to help my people back at home because personally I come from a rural area."
After inventing the 'smart charger', Katana has made another innovation that he says is more gender friendly. The gadget, which he calls a P-Charger, is an indoor device that uses heat generated from a hydro carbon to produce enough electricity to charge a mobile phone.
According to Katana, the new invention will be more useful to women because they constitute a consumer segment that does not use bicycles, and which is mostly confined to indoor tasks in both rural and urban settings.
"I felt my last invention was not gender sensitive because most women in rural Kenya do not [ride] a bicycle," said the 22-year-old electrical engineering student.
"I believe the P-Chager will serve these women because it multitasks the power generated to charge a mobile phone, operate a radio system, as well as serve as a source of light in rural areas."
Lack of Support
Pascal Katana lights a candle to produce energy from a hydro-carbon source.
By installing a candle into a kerosene lamp Katana has developed a system that has a peddler element that produces voltage when activated with a certain amount of heat.
"The voltage produced by this system can be quite powerful depending on the size of the peddler," said Katana.
He explained that the voltage converts into a Direct Current (DC) sufficient to power any electronic gadget, but which can be stabilized using a transistor, a resistor and a voltage regulator.
Apart from a kerosene lamp and a candle, the youth with an engaging wit says he recycles most of the materials used to assemble the gadget from damaged motherboards, radio and television systems.
However, some of the equipment he uses such as a laser cutter and a micro controller are outsourced from overseas through the university's partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.
He says the government of Kenya does not appear to be keen on supporting bright but needy university students in terms of funding or in protecting their innovations through the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
"I wrote a proposal to the Ministry of Higher Education a month ago requesting them to support my work through funding but up to now I have not received any response," said Katana.
"I also wrote to the Kenya Industrial Property Institute requesting them to help me patent my work but so far they have not appeared to be helpful."
"Sometimes it is the lecturers in the university who dig into their pockets to support me when I am in need of finances because the university claims that my projects cannot be funded because they are not institutional projects."