Filston Rukerandanga, a PhD Electrical  Engineer (Telecommunication option) from Burundi with other four fellow researchers,from the Pan African University (Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI) domiciled at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) just invented an Automatic Solar Powered Hand Washing Machine.

Capt Rukerandanga is a Burundian army officer in doctoral training in Kenya, his invention with colleagues is the automatic solar energy machine for contactless hand washing with the possibility of measuring body temperature

“This machine will help the community around Juja and elsewhere keep off this scourge if the explicit instructions the hand washing machine gives as one attempts to wash his hands are followed to the latter”. said lead research student, Willy Tounsi, a PhD Electrical Engineering majoring in Power Systems.

Tounsi says their effort, coming from different countries in Africa, was a representative of the solutions Africa was looking for: a cost-effective working innovation that would easily be escalated to local communities across African countries considering that the challenges were similar.

To comply with the Government’s call for people to adhere to safety precautions in order to avoid contracting the Coronavirus, the system is fitted with a Liquid Display Unit (LCD) that instructs the user in both English and Kiswahili languages on what to do as he prepares to wash his hands.

For instance, immediately one places his hands below the tap, the system digitally alerts the individual that he is about to receive soap, it then instructs the person to scrub his hands, and two seconds later, one is alerted that it is time to receive the water to rinse his hands.

At the end of the handwashing exercise, the system finally advises the individual to KEEP SOCIAL DISTANCE. It is indeed, an interesting step by step process.