Story by Wellington Makonese
Innovations that include patents are testimony of progress being made through the Heritage Based Education 5.0 model, feeding into the country’s industrialisation journey.
Some of the innovations were on display at the 2024 Presidential Innovation Fair in Harare.
This year’s edition of the Presidential Innovation Fair witnessed innovations drawn from high schools, tertiary institutions and industry tapping into productive sectors of agriculture, mining and the health sector.
While some of the innovations have been fully developed for commercialisation with prototypes in place, others are being developed at varying levels to meet industrial needs.
The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education Innovation, Science and Technology Development, Professor Amon Murwira noted the development of the country towards its vision is hinged on the people’s capabilities.
“Our national development is a result of our capabilities and our capabilities are a result of our education. A well designed education system which produces graduates who provide solutions. We often forget the linkages between innovation and industry when we inherit things made by others, but education 5.0 us an amazing industry and our formidability is based on it,” he said.
Among this year’s innovative exhibitions is the vital sign monitoring system by the Harare Institute of Public Health.
The institute representative, Vision Kangwena said, “This is a system that detects the performance of organs of a person be it the kidney liver. We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to explore our ideas for products that are of help to the broader economy
Individuals who have excelled were also honoured at this year’s Presidential Innovation Fair .
The awards had 22 categories with the biggest gong, His Excellency’s Presidential Innovation of the Year Award, going to Verify Engineering.
“We are grateful to the government for the policies that have seen us doing much in lithium ion batteries, oxygen and nitrogen, this has been capped by being recognised,” said Verify Engineering chief executive officer, Engineer Pedzisai Tapfumaneyi.
ZBC’s Wellington Makonese scooped the Presidential Award for Best Innovating Journalist reporting on Science and Technology.
“It’s an honor for this recognition for me and the team I have been working with to be able to highlight innovations by the youth who are contributing to national development,” he said.
Best Innovating University went to Great Zimbabwe University for its Agro Innovations in Drylands Programme, while the Best Innovating Polytechnic of The Year was awarded for the Fruit Juice Pulping Machine at Masvingo Polytechnic.
Presidential Innovation Award for the best Research and Development Institutions went to the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA) for innovation entitled: ‘Development and installation of Geomagnetically-Induced Currents Measurement System in the Zimbabwean National Power Grid’.
