Two Kenyan students are set to participate in the 2023 Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in Dublin, Ireland.
Keith Brian 18 and Maxwell Okoth 19, both first-year students pursuing Electrical Engineering at Strathmore University will showcase a smart security system at the science fair that brings together young scientists from across the world.
The innovation is a vigilance system that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect security threats in buildings.
“Burglary and home invasion occur regularly,” Keith says.
“The system will help users to reduce the response time during the attacks,” he adds.
The system employs vision learning that studies human behavior to pre-empt any anomalies. If detected, a re-engineered CCTV sends live footage to an App linked to the CCTV to notify a user of the possible threat.
“We hope that the innovation will experiment once the project receives proof of concept,” Maxwell said.
Speaking at the ministry headquarters when the duo paid him a courtesy call, Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu lauded the students for embracing technology as a means to solve societal challenges.
“Innovations improve the society we live in, improve the quality of life and encourage people to seek alternative solutions to human challenges,” the CS said.
The CS observed that the innovation was a challenge to young people in all disciplines to make use of their unique abilities regardless of their age.
“One does not have to attain the highest level of education to innovate anything,” Machogu said.
The students were accompanied by Kanga High School Principal Mr. Kodiango Rueben, Parents Association Chairperson Dr. Ondoro Boniface, and their teacher mentor Mr. Marshall Onyango
In 2020, Keith and Maxwell then form three students at Kanga High School and won the prestigious Young Scientist Kenya award with the same innovation.
Marshall Onyango said that the milestone attained by the students is a great inspiration to learners at school who are inclined towards Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics subjects.