This archive report was first published on 8 August 2019.
On August 8, 2019, Kenya's Shree Cutchi Leva Patel Samaj School in Nairobi celebrated a historic achievement by its students, Miteshi Varsani, Muhammed Faizan, and Kauel Brahmbhatt, who became the first Africans to participate and win a silver medal at the 14th International Standards Olympiad in South Korea.
The students, aged between 13 and 18, were selected from different high schools in Kenya and were mentored by Laban Chweya. They were challenged to develop a standard document on 'Robots for Household Use – Performance Criteria and Related Test Methods for Dry Vacuum Cleaning Robots.'
Speaking at the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) offices, Ag. KEBS Managing Director Lt. Col. (Rtd) Mr. Bernard Njiraini praised the students for their exceptional performance, saying, 'We engaged Engineers Fair (formerly Science Congress) at the secondary level and selected those that performed exceptionally.'
The students' achievement was a testament to their hard work and determination, despite being from a developing country. Varsani, the spokesperson of the team, said, 'Even though we were ill-resourced and lacked international exposure, we combined the power of three and did wonders.'
Kebs is setting up a local competition for students to participate and compete across the country to nurture their innovative skills on standardisation.
