How social media propped Class Eight pupil to innovation

As many youths resort to social media platforms for ‘useless’ reasons, Ethan Simiyu, 14, from Sikata village in Bungoma County has used the internet to research and learn new ideas.

Simiyu bagged 410 marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams last year at Christ the King Primary School and wishes to become a software engineer in the future.

He told The Standard that he spent the holidays searching the internet for information about engineering works that helped him build a hydraulic arm.

“During my research on the internet, I was able to get knowledge and managed to improvise a hydraulic arm that can be used to lift objects from one point to another,” says Simiyu.

He used locally available materials to come up with the hydraulic arm including wood, syringes, tubes, crews, and improvised gear that is used to move the machine at the base.

Simiyu said that when different syringes are pressed or pulled, they move the hydraulic arm in any given direction the operator desires, adding that passion is what propelled him to improvise the machine.

“I made it because I wanted to investigate the mechanics behind it,” Simiyu says.  He adds that the stability of the base determines the weight of the load to be lifted by the arm.

The top scorer asserts that his parents had been of much importance during the time he was designing his project.

“For all this research, I have used my mum’s and dad’s phones. My father used his cash to buy me the materials I needed,” he says, noting that the disadvantage of the machine is that it cannot lift heavy loads because it is made up of plastic syringes.

He argues that his innovation is different from other robotic arms in that he built two wooden gears connected to one of the syringes, enabling the arm to rotate up to 240 degrees.

Simiyu affirms that, in the future, he intends to come up with other projects like drones. 

“My research won’t end here, I’m still researching how to come up with a drone using locally available materials,” he says.

The learner also encourages his peers to utilise social media platforms to benefit themselves and implored well-wishers including local leaders to sponsor him so that he can perfect his research work.

According to Antony Fungututi, Simiyu’s father, the son’s talent started to manifest at a young age. 

“He used to dismantle toys and assemble the parts again on his own.”

“My son’s passion for engineering work has not started recently, he could dismantle toys, Radios, and other items in the house and assemble them later to near perfection,” Mr Fungututi says.

He adds that he has always supported his son and encouraged him to nurture his engineering skills and talent.

Alice Ndombi, Simiyu’s mother, says her son would have benefited more if he had learned under the competency-based curriculum (CBC).

She says that Simiyu uses science principles to come up with his projects calling on science technicians to help his son to achieve the best.

Stephen Chamigere, Simiyu’s former headteacher at Christ the King Primary School, describes the learner as ‘very bright’. 

“His favourite subjects were mathematics and sciences,” says the teacher.

According to Chamigere, the pupil always posted impressive results since he was in Class Six.

“He would teach his colleagues Mathematics and Sciences sometimes and most of them liked him,” he said.