AVIC International, a Chinese Holding Corporation in conjunction with the Ministry of Education Science and Technology have kicked off the second season of the Africa Tech Challenge (ATC).
This is a competition that seeks to empower students in Technical Training Institutes in Kenya by upgrading their expertise to enable them get quality jobs and become entrepreneurs.
Project Manager Lynette Mwende says the second season of the Africa Technical Challenge will begin with an intensive nationwide recruitment process of teams from different technical training institutes and universities around the country.
“These teams will undergo a rigorous training from Chinese experts on how to use raw materials and machines as well as gaining the best techniques to use during the competition. Marks will then be awarded on skill, accuracy and precision, cost of production and quantity of raw materials used,” she explained.
This year’s training will begin with four regional competitions that will determine 12 finalists who will then proceed to Shamberere Technical Training Institution in Kakamega for final training and competition.
Six winning teams will be awarded with cash prizes amounting to Sh1million and the three most outstanding participants get a chance to win scholarships to study in the most prestigious Engineering Universities in China.
Three most outstanding participants from the first season walked away with full master’s degree scholarships in the most prestigious engineering schools in China as well as cash prizes of Sh153,825 ($1500), Sh123,085 ($1200) and Sh92,314 ($900) for the top three teams.
The most coveted award was won by the top two teams from Kabete Technical Training Institute and Nyeri Technical Training Institute who signed a commercial contract worth Sh10,282,326 to go into local manufacturing of spare parts.
The first Africa Tech Challenge was started in June last year, which saw hundreds of students get the much needed training.
The second season has also come with a Mobile App Challenge whose main aim was to encourage participants to enhance their creativity through developing a Mobile Application that meets specific criteria.
This competition attracted over 200 applicants of whom the best 50 were shortlisted for training and competition.
The top three mobile applications get a chance to walk away Sh513,253 ($5,000), Sh204,590($2,000) and Sh102,223($1,000) respectively.
