Lilongwe-based innovator Innocent Mandili has won the Community Based Decentralized Renewable Energy Systems and Supporting Structures for Improving Electricity Access in Low-Income Countries (CEANGAL) award.
The 18-year-old fended off competition from hundreds of other innovators across the globe, to clinch the award which is a research project led by Dr Ehiaze Ehimen of the Atlantic Technological University Sligo, in collaboration with Dr Esther Phiri from the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS).
Mandili’s invention, a Thermal El Stove, has emerged as the best among hundreds of innovations that were submitted to the judges for consideration in August 2024.
The innovator, who is a first year student at the Malawi University of Science and Technologies (MUST), has told ProjectM in an interview that he is excited with the award.
“For me, this award simply means the judges were impressed with my project and I don’t take that kind of recognition for granted,” said Mandili.
His Thermal El Stove, an innovation which was also covered by ProjectM platforms, is an energy source that is meant for cooking using clean energy and the energy being used for cooking is converted into electricity, solving waste management and electricity problems rocking the country.
At just 18, Mandili is also the owner of MI Technology and Innovation solutions.
According to the information published on the CEANGAL Project website, Mandili will be awarded a sum of K700,000 to help him develop his innovation further.
The project’s team leader, Dr Ehiaze Ehimen thanked Mandili and other innovators who submitted their projects for scrutiny.
