By Hillary Asemota
The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has pledged its commitment to assist Marist College, a co-educational college located in Yangoji, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), patent two of its scientific inventions.
Reverend Brother Ifeanyi Mbaegbu, who is the principal of the school while leading members of the school on a courtesy visit to the Director General of NOTAP, Dr. DanAzumi Ibrahim, said the Hackavia Sage Team of the school invented the air quality monitor (Sensebox) and water quality monitor (Aquabot) devices to improve the health of Nigerians and its living standard.
The inventions, he also said are capable of inspiring positive change in the Nigerian environmental ecosystem and will strongly impact the economy of the sub region by creating healthy economy.
He said the Aquabot is a smart water quality monitoring device that shows the pH, turbidity, salinity and temperature of the water, adding that the device helps fish farmers and other stakeholders who deal directly with water to know more about water quality.
According to him, the Sensebox is a device that detects the level of harmful particles and chemicals in the air and quickly relay the information to users via computer and smart phones, adding that the device measures the environment several times within a minute and delivers a one-minute average value to a connected analytics solution which appears on a dashboard.
Mbaegbu, said the school emerged winners in the just concluded 2021 Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) competition that was held at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun in June, adding that the feat, qualified the school to represent Nigeria in the 2021 SAGE Global Competition holding later this year.
He reiterated that the inventions are capable of inspiring positive change in the Nigerian environmental ecosystem and will strongly impact on the economy of our country and across the West African sub-region by making available the much-needed hyper-local air thus creating healthier lives, and healthier economy.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the DG congratulated the team and the school management for winning the SAGE competition and expressed optimism in the ability of the team to excel in the Global contest and win laurels for the Country, adding that from the brilliant presentation of the students, his hope on the future of the country had been rekindled.
He stated that the Office was primarily established to regulate the inflow of foreign technology into the country and at the same time, encourage the development of indigenous technologies for socio-economic growth of the nation through the registration of technology transfer agreements. He further stated that economic growth and stability of every country is dependent on her strength in science, technology and innovation therefore, as an agency of government saddled with the responsibility of promoting indigenous technologies, NOTAP will support the school projects through the payment of patenting fees.
Ibrahim stressed that Nigeria has a weak intellectual property culture, a situation he said, spurred NOTAP to initiate the establishment of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) across Nigerian knowledge Institutions in 2006 in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to create awareness on the importance of Intellectual Property (IP) protection.
He said that so far, 58 IPTTO have been established with a significant increase in IP awareness across Nigerian knowledge institutions, culminating in increased number of patents emanating from these institutions.
He encouraged the school to urgently file application for the patenting of the inventions, adding that the Office will assist in paying for the patenting fees and will call on them to pick the certificates after the process.