By Austine Okande
There is nothing exceptional about Charles Omondi when you first meet him.
We meet the 23-year-old Second Year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Nairobi, popularly known as ‘engineer’, at his workstation, a cubicle he shares with three other students.
Wearing a white lab coat, he keenly toys with his tools of work such as spanners, drills and wires, as he works on his innovation — a cell phone and remote-control lock.
Notably, there is a large black and white portrait of the late Steven Jobs, co-founder of Apple on the wall. Jobs is Omondi’s role model.
get inspiration
“You have to get inspiration from role models,” says Omondi. Student inventors such as Mark Zuckerber, founder of popular social networking site Facebook and inventors of Google — Larry Page and Sarger Brin — also inspire him.
“I developed my first prototype early last year from sketchy ideas which were floating in my head after my roommate’s laptop and valuables were stolen from our room while we were in class,” Omondi explains.
He went ahead and entered his project in a competition organised by National Council for Science and Technology, where young innovators are given a chance to demonstrate their ideas and innovations.
His project was picked among the best and Omondi was awarded Sh400,000 to develop a second prototype, an improvement of the first.
The cell-remote lock concept operates as an advance cell phone fully fitted with a specialised SIM card and a security code.
It allows you to control your door lock from anywhere provided it is in the network coverage area; a range of 150 metres.
The gadget gives and receives commands just like a cell phone. One of the special features of the invention is its ability to open doors automatically, especially during fire outbreaks, hence reducing risks of loss of life and properties.
The system is fitted with a unit that can detect any undue pressure exerted on the door such as a burglary incident, thereby activating an alarm system and also alerting the owner through short text messaging.
The lock uses rechargeable dry cells thus can be used where there is no electricity.
memory system
The owner can control those who can access the lock by adding or deleting their numbers from the lock’s memory system. It provides room for the owner to deactivate the lock systems such that it cannot be manipulated externally.
To realise one’s dream is not easy, says Omondi.
“Many people don’t trust that you can actually do it. Most of the lecturers and friends I approached with my idea were sceptical or even rubbished the entire concept,” says Omondi.
The idea was recently shortlisted among the ten best invention ideas out of 3,200 submitted at a competition dubbed the ‘Next Big Thing’ in the US.
“This is a life changer. I will be attending training in America and also meet prospective investors who could invest in my idea. It can make my idea the next big thing.”
Omondi plans to defer his studies for a year to pursue his life dream. He advises youths to embrace ICT as it provides a wider platform for creativity and innovation to protect themselves against the dwindling job market opportunities.
