On Wednesday the 14th June, 2023 was the Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) awarded 3 groups of innovators that emerged winners in the CAMtech Accelerator Program (CAP). The 3 winning innovating groups included Sukali care, Drip sense infusion monitor and Low cost automated slide stainer were awarded.
The ceremony commenced with welcoming remarks from Dr. Data Santorino the Director of CAMTech in Uganda who thanked all partners that made this a reality and also the participants for coming up with good innovations that address societal problems.
He showed gratitude for the support from First Mile project at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) for the efforts they put in to move forward these activities.
‘’To our winners today, you should continue watering the seed you have received, and endeavor to use the money appropriately and for the required purpose. As winners, you should be at the center of your innovations and not act as middlemen by hiring other people to do the projects on your behalf. In this way they will be able to benefit even more,’’ He advised.
Ms. Nuriat Nambogo briefed the audience about the CAMTech Accelerator program. The goal of this event is to recognize the winning teams who participated in this year’s call for proposals. ‘’The selected teams MUST be working on a health challenge or problem that, if addressed, has the potential to have an impact. The winning teams must be affiliated with Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) or have a Principal Investigator (PI) who is a MUST employee,’’ She explained.
She added that CAP Call were made online teams were to
Have a Milestone and budget template
PI cover letter
PI’s Bio-sketch
Support letter from partner institution.
She said that CAP Awards 2023 sent out a call in 3rd April, 2023 and that the call run for 3 weeks.
The application was online. The submitted applications were received by administrative reviewers and 6 out of 9 applications met the required criteria.
These were invited for physical and the areas of Score were as below
- Public Health Impact
- Proposed Innovation
- Commercial Viability
- Team Composition
- Partnership
The top 3 CAP Winning teams.2023 were:
- Sukali Care Winner
- Low cost Automated Slid Stainer (LASS) Winner
- Drip sense Infusion Monitor Winner
Summary of the ideas
- Team, Sukari Care
2. Team Drip sense infusion monitor. The innovation is about offering remote monitoring of drug delivery to patients using infusion pumps.
3. Team Low cost automated slide stainer
On behalf of the judges, Mr. Kamuganga Francis a Lecturer from the Faculty of computing and Informatics at MUST said the teams were really good making its very critical for the jugdes to look for detail. Francis said those that did not make it to the top 3 are still winners due to the extra ordinary ideas they have but just have to focus on what they areas recived more questioning from the judges. He encouraged the innovators to keep on innovating more and more so as to match the name of our alma-meter.
Each team was awarded with five thousand five hundred US dollars (USD 5500) plus a certificate. The awards were handed over to the winners by Dr. Data, Dr. Ngonzi, Dr. Stephen and Ms. Nambogo.
In his remarks, Dr. Stephen congratulated the winners and encouraged them to work smarter. He also told them not to fry the seed they have been given but instead, they should plant it in fertile soil and it grows well as they are focusing on the end users in their innovations.
The ceremony ended with closing remarks from Dr. Ngonzi who appreciated CAMtech for always coming up with such programs. He also advised the awardees not to rest and they should continue working hard as they move on with their projects.
