The Lions of Science Challenge is on _Apply!

Lions of Science (LoS) is a German-Kenyan organization that yearly award prizes to East African students for their creative and innovative projects. The annual awards aim at supporting students to unfold the potential of their proposed projects. This approach is aimed at closing the gap between the innovative project idea and entrepreneurship.

The awards include prize money, professional consultations on further development of solutions as well as language courses and internships. The award welcomes applications from enrolled college and university students who are invited to upload their project proposals to Lions of Science website within the months of May, June and July 2016.

I participated in the 2014 award cycle, and I was shortlisted as one of the top ten finalists. My project “Wireless Power Transmission using Solid State Tesla Coils” had not been completed by the time we were doing the final presentations and hence that is the probably the reason I did scoop the winning prize. Nevertheless, the whole process was worth it. Check the YouTube video of the 2014 award cycle final presentations. Along the way we got trained on Intellectual property rights by Prof. Ethel O. Monda during a seminar organized by LoS. She enlightened us on copyright laws and procedures, patent application process and many other useful tips. I later used these tips to copyright a high school guidance book I had written titled “Smart Way to improve your Mind and Grades”.

As a result of participating in the award cycle, I improved my presentation skills, got to know other innovators and as a result of involving my final year project in this award cycle, I had no option but work very hard on it and it finally worked in readiness for my final year project presentation at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology(JKUAT).I even eventually got my project published and presented it at an international conference. This new found courage also saw me write another paper on “Heuristic view on Intelligent Building Designs as a means to Save Energy” which was presented during the National Science Week” May 2015, organized by National Commission for Science ,Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI).

Since then, Life has turned for better, I even started an educational and IT firm and an educational blog,and my lifelong desire to be a researcher still holds and I will improve my work on wireless power transmission.

So what are you waiting for? Size yourself up and apply for this year’s challenge.

Apply for this year’s challenge before it is too late. Check for instructions and eligibility here. Application submission deadline is 31st July 2016.

Enjoy the journey, joy is in the journey and not in the destination. So do your best and whether you win or not, treasure the journey.

All the best and good luck.