- Winner to cart home £10,000
Two Nigerian students studying in the United Kingdom, Eyinimi Ndimou and Ify Aniebo, who invented life-saving apps, have been shortlisted for a prestigious award to find London’s most innovative international student.
The overall winner of the competition is expected to go home with a £10,000 award to increase the commercial potential of his or her innovation.
Ndimou and Aniebo are both students of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
While Ndimou invented a mobile app that diagnoses birth asphyxia, based on the sound of a baby’s cry, Aniebo made a different app that detects malaria in blood samples.
Following this development, the two Nigerian students have, therefore, been shortlisted to be part of the Mayor of London’s International Student Innovation Awards 2016.
According to a statement by the Press Office of London and Partners, the Mayor of London’s promotional company, the International Student Innovation Awards, was set up to highlight the work of the city’s international students and also to provide some financial help to assist students in taking their innovation to the next stage of development.
The award, the statement added, was devised by London & Partners, the Mayor’s official promotional company and is also supported by the UK Government’s Education is GREAT campaign and the British Council, Cambridge English, IDP Education and The PIE.
Hundreds of entries from 49 different countries and 17 London universities were received, and whittled down to a final shortlist.
An event crowning ‘London’s most innovative international student’, who will receive £10,000 to kick-start their business, will be held on November 2, at Central Saint Martins, Granary Square.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said, “The incredible range of talent on show in these awards celebrates the best of the capital and clearly demonstrates that London is open to talent and ideas from across the globe. We need to do all we can to ensure that London remains the best and most welcoming destination for international students.”
Ndimou has created a mobile app that diagnoses birth asphyxia by listening out for a certain frequency in a baby’s cry. Using the app, parents and healthcare workers can quickly detect asphyxia in babies, and refer them for potentially lifesaving treatment.
Aniebo on her part, has designed a mobile app, which detects malaria in blood samples, transforming any mobile phone with a camera into a microscope. The app also tells users what type of malaria is present in a blood sample and advises on possible courses of treatment.
Speaking on the upcoming event, Ndimou said, “This award would simply mean that my team and I are one step closer to realising our dream of saving millions of newborn lives in Nigeria and many other developing countries.”
