LASU Lecturer, 17 Others Get $4.5m To Develop “Gaari” Fryer, Wind Turbine

Ekohotblog:LASU Lecturer, 17 Others Get $4.5m Grants To Develop “Gaari” Fryer, Wind Turbine

Kunle Aremu

A zoology lecturer of the Lagos State University, Dr. Olusegun Babalola is one of the 18 Nigerian academics to get $250,000 grant each to develop prototypes into commercially viable products, including a modern fryer for Nigeria’s staple food, Gaari.

Babalola like his colleagues will receive a grant of $250,000 from the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI) to develop four prototype projects into commercially viable products.

The academics went through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund)’s Research for Impact Initiative (R4I) to win the grants.

The 18 lecturers, who were distributed into four groups were hosted at Innov8, an innovation hub in Abuja to come out with four prototypes; Development of Technology to Mitigate the Effect of Drought in Desert Areas of Northern Nigeria, Development of Automated Garri Frying Technology (Jollyfryer), Creation of Biosensor Device for Water Purification Using Solar Energy, AirVolt: An Affordable Access to Electricity with Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.

Dr Babalola’s research team working on Water Purification System with Biosensor using Solar Energy is made up of Prof Nwaugo Victor (Abia State University), Prof. Chiaghanam Osita (Rivers State University), Dr Usman Wasiri (Bauchi State University), and Dr Babalola himself. The group, like others, received a grant of $50,000 (N60 million) to execute the research proposal.

The SGCI is a multi-funded initiative aimed at strengthening the capacities of 17 Science Granting Councils (SGCs) in sub-Saharan African, with the councils contributing significantly towards strengthening national research and innovation ecosystems in their respective councils.

Dr Babalola, who had won several other grants, appreciated the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, mni, NPOM for nominating him for the TETFUND Scientific and Innovative Research Workshop in 2023. The Workshop, he said, gave him the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from other institutions to write the proposal that birthed the grant.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olatunji-Bello has congratulated him on the feat and for making LASU proud.