In August 2024, because the feverish examination season drew to a detailed, marking the tip of the educational 12 months, the engineering school on the College of Lagos, Nigeria, upheld its custom of celebrating with an awards dinner. However that 12 months, one thing was completely different. A brand new award was being launched: the Engineering Spirit Award. Its first-ever recipient, Motunrayo Sanyaolu, a third-year electrical engineering pupil, was no shock to the college. Even amongst her seniors—together with some jaded by the rigidity of their research—the 21-year-old had already made a reputation for herself on campus as a passionate inventor.
In her first 12 months, Sanyaolu was already working with lecturers on tech tasks and mentoring fellow college students, based on Emmanuel Awolowo, one in all her buddies. By her third 12 months, she had printed a e-book—downloaded by about 150 college students—encouraging them to take their first steps towards innovation. That very same 12 months, she utilized for a Nigerian patent for a heating blanket, a low-cost, off-grid resolution for clinics too underfunded for incubators. She had initially began the venture with a bunch of 4 earlier than persevering with it alone. The blankets may cut back the 62% price of hypothermia affecting newborns shuffled between hospitals. Designed to value under ₦50,000 ($32), they’ve the potential to get rid of determined hacks like scorching water bottles in cots, which may go away nurses and infants burned.
“If anybody else had gained, it might have been stunning,” stated Orobosa Isokpunwu, echoing a number of college students of the college. Isokpunwu is collaborating with Sanyaolu to refine the blanket for an upcoming competitors that might present a possibility for medical trials in Nigeria.
I waited in a design studio, nestled within the College of Social Sciences on the College of Lagos, to see Sanyaolu and the blanket in motion.
I first met Sanyaolu in November 2024 at a Google DevFest, the place she was ushering audio system on the occasion. She had casually talked about that she was engaged on an off-grid incubator various—humble and unassuming as if it have been no huge deal in a rustic with an epileptic energy provide. I puzzled if she downplayed it as a result of {hardware} doesn’t get the highlight that software program does in a coding crowd, or if that was simply how she carried herself. Heading into our assembly, I used to be shocked to be taught that she was a celeb of kinds within the College of Engineering at one in all Nigeria’s most revered universities.
Buddies and coworkers—she balances a job on the design studio along with her research—have been additionally followers. All of them stated the identical factor: she had an infectious ardour for experimentation and constructing know-how.
On the design studio, Sanyaolu, carrying the identical brilliant smile and cornrows that wanted to be redone, sat at a desk with two variations of her heating blanket between us. They appeared like furry toy coats, one wrapped round an enormous child doll.
“We’re engaged on a 3rd iteration,” she stated, touching one in all them. “Higher heating system and a greater look. We’re making use of for a contest that can present a possibility for medical trials and extra funding to make it extra marketable to hospitals.” Till then, she’s additionally juggling an amusing venture: a laser gun for real-life Name of Obligation.
“It could be coupled with an online app, however the photographs will be fired in actual life,” she defined. “Nonetheless engaged on the programming and mechanism. It’ll be huge, like paintball weapons.” She was designing that for a recreation with a bunch of scholars she was supporting on the hub.
From Python to prototyping
I requested her what influenced her inclination to construct, and the farthest she may hint it was to the primary time she watched Massive Hero 6, a film a couple of younger robotics prodigy named Hiro Hamada, who groups up with a robotic and 4 different nerds to avoid wasting their hometown from an evil supervillain making an attempt to take over with Hiro’s invention.
“Within the film, Hiro had a lab crammed with futuristic innovations. I keep in mind turning to my dad and telling him, ‘I wish to be like this—wealthy sufficient to have a lab the place I tinker all day,’” she recalled.
Sanyaolu misplaced her dad, who was a nurse, just a few years later to COVID-19, however that dream remained alive. After years of taking aside followers and different units—some by no means went again collectively—she selected electrical engineering at UNILAG, simply throughout the border from Ogun State, the place she grew up.
Her first 12 months was all focus—eight hours of research a day, she stated. Then the 2022 strike hit, lasting eight months and throwing her off.
“It felt countless,” she stated. “Finding out with no finish, no clue after we would resume.”
She saved at it for some time, retaining lectures recent, however because the wait dragged on, she turned elsewhere: programming. A buddy had launched her to Python in secondary college. Throughout the strike, she completed a Harvard intro course on-line after which discovered Laptop Science Academy Africa (CSA), a Python boot camp.
“It was pivotal,” she stated.
It opened up new coding ideas and launched her to the Web of Issues (IoT), the place software program meets {hardware}.
“In secondary college, I had been torn between the 2,” she stated. “IoT confirmed me they might mix.”
She wrapped this system with a house automation venture, leaving as a newbie programmer and {hardware} developer. Now clear-eyed in regards to the form of know-how she wished to construct, she took on an internship at an innovation hub in Unilag. College students there have been recruited to work on healthcare-related tasks. The selection to work in healthcare was, partly, influenced by her father’s background. Nevertheless, she clarified that her curiosity wasn’t in drugs itself.
“I’m extra desirous about exoskeletons, wheelchairs, and exterior assistive units,” she stated. “I don’t like working with inside organs; they appear too fragile.” It additionally didn’t assist that her father, who had been a nurse, typically returned house with gory tales of surgical procedures. Sanyaolu shook her head gently as if to shake off the reminiscences.
After the 2022 strike, her internship grew to become a full-time position. She was lately promoted, now incomes ₦50,000 month-to-month—however greater than the paycheck, she valued the entry it gave her: 3D printers, improvement kits, and an countless provide of elements to deliver her concepts to life.
“Earlier than the internship, I had concepts I wished to work on, however I solely had a small equipment from CSA with fundamental elements—an Arduino, a mini motor, a breadboard, some sensors, and lightweight bulbs. It was sufficient to get began however to not maintain going. Right here, I’ve entry to a lot extra: 3D printers, quite a lot of sensors, electrical elements, and improvement kits. It’s an area the place you possibly can are available in with an concept and go away with a working product.”
She glanced on the 3D printer behind us and wrapped her arms round herself to comprise her pleasure.
“Have you ever named it but?” I requested.
She laughed. “I’ve thought of shopping for one—one to 2 million naira. I’ve been saving, however I’m proud of this one for now.”
Mastering the science, proudly owning the long run
Working as technical assist on the workforce has given Sanyaolu a brand new perspective on her goals. She now envisions her future lab as an open area the place anybody with an concept can deliver it to life. Till she will be able to afford to construct that dream, her e-book—written final 12 months—was a step in that path.
“I wished to fill the gaps in our training system,” she defined. “Many engineering college students lose their ardour as a result of they lack hands-on expertise. They don’t at all times get the technical data they anticipated after they enrolled. I wished to create a information to assist college students bridge that hole—to point out them the sources accessible to them and the way they will get began on their very own.”
Her 52-page e-book, sprinkled with quotes from legendary scientists and tech founders, gives sensible recommendation on cultivating curiosity, creativity, and technical expertise. The aesthetics of the self-published e-book may benefit from extra formal enhancing, however it serves as a stable primer for younger individuals with a flicker of ambition. Awolowo, her buddy and classmate, finds it inspiring, at the same time as he considers shifting away from engineering into politics upon commencement.
“Sanyaolu conjures up everybody to do extra and make the additional effort. She pushes me to place in my greatest work and take a look at new issues,” stated Awolowo, who has additionally taken up an internship on the design studio the place Sanyaolu works.
Trying again, nevertheless, Sanyaolu sees room for enchancment within the e-book.
“On the time, I believed it was the perfect factor ever. Now, I see areas that might be higher.”
Finally, she’s aiming to grasp her profession and earn sufficient to give attention to ardour tasks.
“I like Mark Rober. He labored at NASA and Apple earlier than gaining the monetary stability to create no matter he wished on YouTube. He has the time, cash, and freedom to discover his concepts. That’s what I need—independence,” she defined. “I could not find yourself at NASA or Apple, however I wish to work for a hardware-focused firm to realize hands-on expertise. After just a few years, I’d like to ascertain one thing within the IoT area, presumably mechatronics.”
I ask her what she thinks in regards to the Synthetic Intelligence wave, however she says AI isn’t her focus proper now.
“There’s already a lot to be taught in mechatronics alone. Finally, I’ll discover it, however my precedence is knowing how all the IoT ecosystem works, from networking to the bodily units concerned,” she stated.
For now, her days observe a structured rhythm: get up, pray, and head to work.
“Though I’d wish to say I learn within the mornings, I don’t,” she admitted with a smile.
If she has free time at work, she research—not school-related materials, however programs on electronics and IoT. She works on sensible tasks at any time when attainable, spends a lot of her time planning and organising packages on the design studio for younger engineers, after which heads house round 7 or 8 PM. A fast chat along with her sister, then sleep, and the cycle repeats.
Her routine is disciplined, and her imaginative and prescient is unwavering. At some point, she gained’t simply be constructing merchandise—she’ll be constructing a future the place others can, too. Within the quick time period, she is trying ahead to successful the Engineering Spirit award this 12 months.
“There is likely to be a brand new winner this time. Whoever it’s, I’ll give them some robust competitors,” she stated.
