Five friends: Odongo Solomon, Oculi Emmanuel, Kasule Nasser, Epoku Emmanuel and Neema Dumo are joint founders of Smajtech Company and attend Uganda’s Seroma Christian High School.
The team developed a device to charge a phone while riding a bicycle. “We developed it to help people in rural areas who have no electricity but have phones and bicycles,” they say. The device works when connected to a bicycle dynamo and inputs a USB charger to charge the phone. It is connected to the bicycle using two wires.
“This charger was invented by our team and it’s a product of recycled materials like computer USB ports, computer resistors, capacitors and ordinary electrical wires. The bicycle’s dynamo generates 5-7 volts of power depending on the riding speed and the device stabilizes the power to 3.7 volts that are required to charge the phone.
Smajtech Company says, “Junior achievement programs have changed our way of thinking. We have learnt how to turn our wonderful ideas and innovations into a business by the guide of our patron and our IT teachers. Junior Achievement has taught us to be innovative Entrepreneurs and we are looking forward to establishing real companies based on the entrepreneurial skills adopted from JA and IT skills.”
