Not long after a breakthrough in innovations by lecturers of Nigerian tertiary institution, another milestone has been achieved.
This time, an innovative product developed as part of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) intervention in the area of research and development has been unveiled. This programme is under TETFund’s Alliance for Innovative Research (TETFAIR).

The new product – Chord Hearing Device developed by a team under the TETFAIR initiative has started receiving international attention and acceptance as it recently got opportunity for exhibition at the prestigious Sheba ARC(Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate) Global Entrepreneurship Programme.

The Chord Hearing Device is an innovative, affordable and self-programmable hearing aid developed by Dr. Adebolajo Adeyemo and his team also known as Team 12.

Other members of the team include, Associate Professor Bolanle Oladejo and Dr. Oluwasola Adeniji), all of the University of Ibadan. Before now, four prototype innovations were developed by Nigerian researchers to address the challenges of hunger, poverty, quality education, responsible consumption and production in the country.

The prototypes were also developed by lecturers from Nigerian government higher institutions under the Research for Impact (R4i) programme, another initiative of TETFund under Arc. Sonny Echono. For the project, 18 academic staff, divided into four groups, were chosen to participate in the innovative project that led to the development of prototypes of the innovative solutions that were found to be very critical to addressing some of the nation’s socio-economic challenges such as the smart grain storage for the prevention of pest infestation of stored grains.

Other products include a Float House called Gimbaliya constructed with low density materials that enables it to float on water; an automated ultrasonic solar- powered sprayer and broad-spectrum bio-pesticides for control of pests in an eco-friendly manner as well as E-Access, a mobile application that caters for lecturers who develop lecture materials as well as assist students in need of
lecture materials.

For the newest product – Chord Hearing Device, team members were selected to participate in TETFAIR based on their ideas for a solution to the challenge of affordable and accessible hearing aid devices in Nigeria. It is noteworthy to state that since the inception of TETFAIR, with the support of innovation, technology and venture creation experts, the team has made significant progress, the hallmark of which was the completion of the first prototype, which is now being tested with users, as part of the proof-of-concept phase of TETFAIR.

The team lead, Dr. Adeyemo represented the team at the ARC Programme, where for 12 weeks, 29 start-ups from Israel, United States of America (USA),Germany, Japan, Colombia, Nigeria, South Africa and Australia, worked on finding solutions to pressing healthcare challenges.

Based on his ideas and good impression, Dr. Adeyemo was chosen among 11 healthcare researchers from five continents of the world to present their innovations to investors and experts at the final event of the Sheba ARC Global Entrepreneurship programme held in Israel. Eventually, his innovation and pitch also led to his selection among the three start-ups that presented their innovations at the ARC Global Summit in Tel Aviv on June 14.

According to the information obtained from the Ag. Director of Public Affairs,Mr. Abdulmumin Oniyangi, for the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, the TETFAIR journey of Dr. Adeyemo and his team is still ongoing and it is hoped that in the coming months, based on feedback from the user tests, the prototype would be refined and the product development will continue with the support of TETFAIR experts at Innov8 Hub, Abuja.

Oniyangi further informed that the Chord hearing aid would be presented at TETFAIR’s final showcase event at Innov8 Hub, Abuja, among other innovative solutions developed by members of the Nigerian academia.

Meanwhile, TETFund, through the TETFAIR initiative has pledged to sustain its support as well as guide members of the Nigerian academia through the critical journey of translating researches into innovation, solution and enterprise.