Three Kenyan students have been awarded in the Africa Tech challenge construction competition, sponsored by a Chinese company.
Two of the awardees from Meru National Polytechnic and another one from Gatundu South TVC were part of the 259 students from 45 schools in seven countries who participated in the contest.
The winning team is among six national teams that got the highest total score of each nation and will advance to the finals after a successful preliminary competition on construction.
Other winning teams were drawn from Luyanzi Institute of Technology from Uganda, Integrated Technical Education Cluster (ITEC), St. Paul Technical School from Ghana, Fayoum from Egypt, Northern Technical College from Zambia, and Bulawayo Polytechnic from Zimbabwe. They all proceeded to the final competition.
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In the concluding phase of the contest, one team among six national squads will enter the final competition by AVIC International. According to AVIC International, the organising company that deals with construction, a total of 18 individual winners in the preliminary competition comprising the top 3 individuals from each country will be awarded cash following the four-week training.
The participants were coached online for one month, from July 25th to August 22nd, through the AVIC INTL Vocational Education Online Platform. The preliminary competition on “Reading and Drafting of Construction Drawings” was successfully held on August 25th,” read a statement by AVIC International.
The training was centred on the basic knowledge of the operation of CAD software, engineering drawing projection, international drafting standards and building floor plan drawing.
Asides from the training and competition, a midterm examination and final examination were conducted during the training stage for the participants to evaluate the trainees.
Participants were selected from Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Egypt, and Ghana.
Africa Tech challenge
Africa Tech Challenge is a competition focused on building technology skills in African students, organised by Chinese construction firm AVIC International.
The competition is targeting young engineers from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe and will reward the top six teams with different prizes.
The 2022 theme is “limitless innovation,” which emphasizes harnessing technology to push the boundaries of creativity.
Among the benefits that participants in the competition will gain are fully funded scholarships at some of the best Chinese universities. Winners will also be given internships and job opportunities, among other perks.
After a two-year break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said that the contest would be back.
The company has also worked with Kenya’s Ministry of Education to help people learn more about building technologies.
