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PhD student Emmie Chiyindiko runner-up at international science summit

23 November 2021 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied

With her talk on ‘Breaking the walls of darkness’, Emmie Chiyindiko came in second out of the 74 pitches presented at the recent Falling Walls Science Summit.

“I need you to take a moment and imagine trying to do everything that you do every day … without reliable energy. Or I’ll ask you this … How far would you walk to charge your phone if you didn’t have electricity? Would you walk for hours? Kilometres?”

“Well, that’s what millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa do daily to charge their phones. One billion people globally don’t have access to electricity in their homes and in sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the population remains in the dark.”

This was the introduction to Emmie Chiyindiko’s talk at the recent Falling Walls Science Summit earlier this month. Emmie, who is a PhD student in Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS), came in second out of the 74 pitches presented with her talk on ‘Breaking the walls of darkness’ in the ‘Breakthrough of the year in the emerging talents category’.

Falling Walls Lab is a world-class pitching competition, networking forum, and steppingstone that brings together a diverse and interdisciplinary pool of students, researchers, and early-career professionals by providing a stage for breakthrough ideas, both globally and locally.

Emmie, who sees getting out of bed every morning as just another opportunity to “be the exceptional young black female scientist that I am”, won the local Falling Walls Lab in Cape Town in October, which resulted in her going through to the finals in Berlin. She plans to host the Falling Walls Lab in Zimbabwe, her homeland, next year.

This innovator and science communicator, whose work has been covered in Forbes Science, News24, and the Sunday Times, among others, refers to her obtaining second place on the international stage for her research as “a tremendous achievement and a new height in my science communication career. That level of recognition from the world leaders in science, technology, and science engagement cannot be overstated”.

Ending energy poverty

She believes Sustainable Development Goal 7 – leaving no one behind and eradicating global poverty – must be preceded by intentional efforts to end energy poverty. “My research on dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSC) with special metal complexes is among the most interesting alternatives to conventional solar cells.”

Emmie explains: “The design of the cells is inspired by photosynthesis – that good old process plants use to transform sunlight into energy via chlorophyll. Instead of a leaf, the cells start with a porous, transparent film of eco-friendly titanium dioxide nanoparticles. The film is also coated with a range of different dyes that absorb scattered sunlight and fluorescent light. When sunlight hits, it excites the electrons in the dye, creating an endless supply of energy.

The bright side of this research is that there are several benefits to this invention. It produces energy that is cheap, reliable, and relatively simple and inexpensive to produce. Emmie adds: “These next-generation cells also work impeccably in low-light and non-direct sunlight conditions, providing all-year-round energy with no disruptions. DSSC is also three times cheaper than conventional cells and produces 40% more energy.”

Improving livelihoods

She continues: “It does not degrade in sunlight over time as do other thin-film cells, making the cells last longer, and requiring less frequent replacement. DSSCs are also mechanically strong, because they are made of lightweight materials and do not require special protection from rain or abrasive objects.”

Emmie has proven that solutions to our current energy situation are available. “We are on the cusp of an energy revolution, and we must act now. Solutions are available, and if we do not seize them during a time of crisis, when will we?”

She believes that creating technology like this can end the energy crisis and improve livelihoods. “Billions of people simply lack enough energy to build a better life. Affordable, abundant, and reliable energy can go a long way to store food, power life-saving medical equipment, and run trains and factories. It can help communities to grow and prosper and to access opportunity and dignity. Societies where people have access to energy have lower childhood mortality, a higher life expectancy, they eat better and drink cleaner water, and have a better literacy rate.”

News Archive

Fight against Ebola virus requires more research

2014-10-22

Dr Abdon Atangana
Photo: Ifa Tshishonge

Dr Abdon Atangana, a postdoctoral researcher in the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), wrote an article related to the Ebola virus: Modelling the Ebola haemorrhagic fever with the beta-derivative: Deathly infection disease in West African countries.

“The filoviruses belong to a virus family named filoviridae. This virus can cause unembellished haemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman monkeys. In literature, only two members of this virus family have been mentioned, namely the Marburg virus and the Ebola virus. However, so far only five species of the Ebola virus have been identified, including: Ivory Coast, Sudan, Zaire, Reston and Bundibugyo.

“Among these families, the Ebola virus is the only member of the Zaire Ebola virus species and also the most dangerous, being responsible for the largest number of outbreaks.

“Ebola is an unusual, but fatal virus that causes bleeding inside and outside the body. As the virus spreads through the body, it damages the immune system and organs. Ultimately, it causes the blood-clotting levels in cells to drop. This leads to severe, uncontrollable bleeding.

Since all physical problems can be modelled via mathematical equation, Dr Atangana aimed in his research (the paper was published in BioMed Research International with impact factor 2.701) to analyse the spread of this deadly disease using mathematical equations. We shall propose a model underpinning the spread of this disease in a given Sub-Saharan African country,” he said.

The mathematical equations are used to predict the future behaviour of the disease, especially the spread of the disease among the targeted population. These mathematical equations are called differential equation and are only using the concept of rate of change over time.

However, there is several definitions for derivative, and the choice of the derivative used for such a model is very important, because the more accurate the model, the better results will be obtained. The classical derivative describes the change of rate, but it is an approximation of the real velocity of the object under study. The beta derivative is the modification of the classical derivative that takes into account the time scale and also has a new parameter that can be considered as the fractional order.

“I have used the beta derivative to model the spread of the fatal disease called Ebola, which has killed many people in the West African countries, including Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, since December 2013,” he said.

The constructed mathematical equations were called Atangana’s Beta Ebola System of Equations (ABESE). “We did the investigation of the stable endemic points and presented the Eigen-Values using the Jacobian method. The homotopy decomposition method was used to solve the resulted system of equations. The convergence of the method was presented and some numerical simulations were done for different values of beta.

“The simulations showed that our model is more realistic for all betas less than 0.5. The model revealed that, if there were no recovery precaution for a given population in a West African country, the entire population of that country would all die in a very short period of time, even if the total number of the infected population is very small. In simple terms, the prediction revealed a fast spread of the virus among the targeted population. These results can be used to educate and inform people about the rapid spread of the deadly disease,” he said.

The spread of Ebola among people only occurs through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person after symptoms have developed. Body fluid that may contain the Ebola virus includes saliva, mucus, vomit, faeces, sweat, tears, breast milk, urine and semen. Entry points include the nose, mouth, eyes, open wounds, cuts and abrasions. Note should be taken that contact with objects contaminated by the virus, particularly needles and syringes, may also transmit the infection.

“Based on the predictions in this paper, we are calling on more research regarding this disease; in particular, we are calling on researchers to pay attention to finding an efficient cure or more effective prevention, to reduce the risk of contamination,” Dr Atangana said.

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