Two female AU student’s bold chronic medication delivery system idea clinches 3rd place in international Ideathon

Second year Software Engineering students in the College of Business, Peace, Leadership and Governance (CBPLG), Nyasha Masese and Maxine Rumbidzayi Mutasa were awarded 3rd place by the NICE School of Business Studies Entrepreneurship Club Ideathon 2022, Subhit University, India. The dynamic duo  beat out 19 other competing teams . The objectives of the Ideathon  were to sharpen skills in business ideation  and development, create networking opportunities with fellows from other universities and to prepare students to the future of entrepreneurship, putting ideas through rigorous development processes and real world applications.

The winning project was a business idea on a medical courier service which aims to deliver medication to customers at their doorstep. A timely intervention especially in the wake of the global COVID- 19 Pandemic that made access to life- saving medication challenging for many patients especially in remote areas.

The ladies said, 

The project is the first of its kind in Zimbabwe and would help minimize the risk of Zimbabwean citizens coming into contact with the Covid-19 Virus as well as  providing convenience by eliminating the need for customers to physically acquire medication. 

Educational Technologies Endowed Chair  and student business mentor Dr. Yogesh Awasthi emphasized the importance of supporting such student participation and the contributions they make to the innovation space nationally and regionally.

Education 5.0 is centered on the Heritage based philosophy in shaping future technology through innovation and industrialization. It requires a holistic approach towards educational transformation, covering all essential elements. This is the only way we can achieve this. This is our responsibility as educators ,  to provide such a platform where students can showcase their abilities and get the confidence that they have the capacity, talent and skill. The CBPLG is always dedicated to motivate and guide our students to nurture their capabilities.

Nyasha said of the win,

We were very happy to be able to have this experience as it has inspired us to know that we can do more as women in business and tech. It has shown us that we are capable of achieving far greater things and we would be more than happy to take on new challenges as they come.

Maxine added,

We feel overjoyed about the achievement and being rewarded for our hard work. We are happy to have learned various aspects from the competition such as the ability to evaluate risks and gain a significant confidence boost alongside strategic thinking skills. It has inspired us both to take on more opportunities  in the future and to further promote our aim to be prominent women in business and tech. 

Computer Sciences students Tony Mulongo Mwepu (DRC), Tinaye Makoni (Zimbabwe) and Tapiwa Chamboko (Zimbabwean) made it to the second round of the competition while Software Engineering student Cupid Hletywayo made the final round.