BILT Learning Labs are an opportunity for TVET stakeholders to explore specific 'Innovation and Learning Practices' from Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. This Learning Lab took place on
24 March 2022, 10:15 – 12:00 CET, and focused on the makerspace training centre that is managed by Gearbox and operated by Machine Africa Network of Industries in Kenya. It was attended by over 80 participants from around the globe.

The Gearbox Makerspace and Product Development: Unlocking the potential of innovative entrepreneurial activities

Innovation always begins with creative ideas. Yet, most ideas never transform to tangible reality due to a lack of skills, means and funding.

As young professionals and entrepreneurs need to give operational form to ideas, they can be held back by the cost of the materials, machinery and electronics needed to build a prototype. Industries often have to solve real-world problems drawing on knowledge gained from research in order to produce new products or processes. Moreover, TVET applied research is the close link between research and efforts to improve TVET pedagogy.

To solve these major challenges, an innovation lab and manufacturing makerspace called Gearbox was set up in Nairobi, providing young Kenyan inventors with the equipment and knowledge to realize their concepts.

Participants were invited to learn firsthand about how this innovative Makerspace training centre project is fostering entrepreneurial culture from Gearbox Founder and Executive Director, Mr Kamau Gachigi, and Mr George Makateto, the current Director of Industries, Engineering and Construction Industries at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives in Kenya.

They were joined by two successful entrepreneurs, Ms Nzambi Matee and Mr Nicholus Kimali, who profited from equipment and mentorship provided by Gearbox, and who shared their experience in building up their respective businesses and creating new employment opportunities.

Gearbox not only shares prototyping facilities and offers training in manufacturing, fabrication and design, investment opportunities and community development are also part of this Kenyan project that seeks to create 5 million jobs by 2023 under the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works Project.

Agenda

Times are indicated in CET. French interpretation will be available.

24 March 2022

10:15 - 10:20: Online Arrival 

10:20 – 10:35: Welcome and opening

• Ms Sarah Elson-Rogers, Team Leader for ‘Innovation and the Future of TVET’, UNESCO-UNEVOC
• Mr Wilson Lima Júnior, BILT Project Manager, UNESCO-UNEVOC

How does the Gearbox Makerspace and Product Development foster entrepreneurial culture and employment opportunity in Kenya?

Moderator: Mr Wilson Lima Júnior, UNESCO-UNEVOC

Panelists:

• Mr Kamau Gachigi, Gearbox Founder and Executive Director
• Mr George Makateto, Director of Industries, Engineering and Construction Industries at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives in Kenya
• Ms Nzambi Matee, Inventor, Entrepreneur and Founder of Gjenge Makers, Kenya
• Mr Nicholus Kimali, CEO and Founder at Fedha Electrics Limited, Kenya

• All participants

• Mr Kamau Gachigi, Gearbox
• Ms Sarah Elson-Rogers, UNESCO-UNEVOC

• Opportunity for all online participants to network

Speakers

Mr Kamau Gachigi, Executive Director, Gearbox, Kenya

Mr Kamau Gachigi is the Founding Executive Director of Gearbox Pan African Networks (known simply as Gearbox), a hardware accelerator that provides members with access to modern machines for prototyping and low volume manufacturing, including electronics PCB fabrication, representing a unique window into Industry 4.0 capabilities. He recently founded MachineANI, which runs two factories aimed at formalizing manufacturing in the informal sector.

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Gearbox trains youth in manufacturing, and engages directly with informal sector artisans to formalize their skills and link them upstream to machines made by Kenyan engineers for micro-industrial production, and downstream (through MachineANI) to market opportunities. He also co-founded Gearbox Europlacer, an electronics (printed circuit board assembly) contract manufacturing firm, and a JV with global leader in manufacturing surface mount technology (SMT) equipment, Europlacer. He is currently setting up a fund with others for Gearbox startups. Mr Kamau served a three-year term as a member of the Global Council on the Future of Production under the World Economic Forum, and additionally as a member of the Consultative Advisory Group for the Partnership for Skills in the Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) between African Governments, with support from the World Bank. Mr Kamau was appointed to Chair the Board of the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA), a semi-autonomous government authority and until recently also sat on the Board of the Numerical Machining Complex, a Kenyan State Corporation. He previously founded the Fab Lab at the University of Nairobi and another in a low-income area in Nairobi. He holds a Ph.D. in Solid State Science from the Pennsylvania State University (USA), and holds a US patent. He worked in Japan for TDK in R&D for over two years after earning his doctorate, and taught engineering at the University of Nairobi for 14 years.

Mr George Makateto, Director, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, Kenya

Mr George Makateto is the current Director of Industries, Engineering and Construction Industries at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives in Kenya. He is in charge of automotive/motor cycle, industrial spares, iron and steel, Agro machinery and construction materials.

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He has held the following positions in Kenyan Government: Ag CEO Export Processing Zones, Deputy Director Productivity and Competitiveness Centre in charge of productivity improvement, Ag Director Business Environment, Assistant Director of Industries in charge of UNIDO desk office, Environmental Impact, assessment appraisal and pharmaceutical manufacturing; Principal Accreditation and Quality Assurance Officer in charge of developing engineers’ standards. He previously held a senior lecturer position in automotive engineering at Kisumu and Mombasa National Polytechnic. He is a holder of an MPhil in Technology Education (Automotive Engineering) and Bachelor of Technology Education (Automotive option). He also holds a Kaizen certification, ISO certification, EIA, Renewable energy and ILO-SIYB.

Mr Makateto is experienced in Accreditation and Quality Assurance, Industrial Development, Promotion and productivity improvement.

Ms Nzambi Matee, Inventor, Entrepreneur and Founder of Gjenge Makers, Kenya

Ms Nzambi Matee is a scientist, inventor, engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Gjenge Makers Ltd. She pursued a major in Physics at the Jomo Kenya University of Agriculture and Technology where she obtained relevant foundational training in material science that she currently applies at Gjenge Makers Ltd.

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Before founding Gjenge Makers, Ms Matte worked in the oil industry at National Oil as a data analyst. The experience gave her a window into a corporate setting and how it runs, the systems required, and the data created and needed in order to make decisions.

Ms Matee is leading Gjenge Makers in its quest to be the leader in the alternative building products space and spearhead new technologies that can impact the affordable housing sector. All the while, providing opportunity, jobs and creating an ecosystem for recycling waste in Kenya. So far, Gjenge has converted the problem of plastic waste pollution into a solution in the construction industry. To date, Gjenge Makers has recycled more than 40 tons of plastic and created more than 130 job opportunities in the community.

Mr Nicholus Kimali, CEO and Founder at Fedha Electrics Limited, Kenya

Mr Nicholus Kimali is the CEO and Founder of Fedha Electrics Limited and an award winning embedded systems engineer with interests in various fields of electrical and electronic engineering such as embedded systems, microcomputer applications and industrial systems. He is also a graduate engineer from the University of Nairobi.

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Through his working experience, he has gained proficiency in the following aspects: AI and robotics, design of electrical and electronic systems for applications in IoT and automation, design of single board computer systems for ARM processors, engineering project management and CAD drafting using CAD software.

He is the designer of the leading and best-selling vehicle speed limiter device in Kenya, which is also being used in other countries including Nigeria.