Senegal engineering students fight virus with inventions


Dakar (AFP)

Senegalese engineering students are throwing themselves at the West African state's growing coronavirus problem with inventions such as automatic sanitiser dispensers and medical robots.

Youngsters from a top engineering school in the capital Dakar have turned their technical skills toward easing pressure on the wards -- and they are already in talks with hospitals over some of their innovations.

One example is a small robot, dubbed 'Dr. Car', which will be able to measure patients' blood pressure and temperature, according to students from Dakar's Ecole Superieure Polytechnique (ESP).

The university is considered one of West Africa's best for engineering and technology, and is highly selective, with 28 nationalities represented among its 4,000 students.


"At a certain point ... we realised that medical equipment was limited," the 23-year-old added. "We can do something".








But Abdoulaye Bousso, the head of an emergency ward in a Dakar hospital, asked to redesign it to include mechanical arms capable of conducting medical tests -- an upgrade the students are working on now.

"It's a whole process," Bousso said, adding that the robot could cut down on their use of expensive bibs and gowns, which must be thrown away.

- Focus on practicality -


The robot is "far from being a gadget," he said, and could be produced at a larger scale once ready.

"We are a public institution. There is one concept that binds us all together, and that is service to the community," he said.



"It's very simple, it's basic," said the 26-year-old.

"As scientists, as engineers, we have to meet the challenges and really take our destiny into our own hands," Andjembe added.

The coronavirus has upended ESP students' lives.



"What has changed is the responsibility," robotmaker Kebe said before adding that the students also felt "much more patriotism".