A Durban school pupil who received international recognition for two robotics inventions is using her skills to introduce disadvantaged children to coding, with the aim of helping them develop their own technology solutions.
Sinead Kaidence Samputh, a Grade Nine learner at Reddam House Umhlanga, won her age category in this year’s Inspired Builds Global Robotics Competition, with her invention, Baymin Air. The prototype is designed to monitor air quality and indicate environmental conditions that could be associated with the spread of airborne illness.
Also known as the Inspired Schools Global Robotics Competition, the initiative is an international STEAM and coding challenge for students across the Inspired Education Group network, which operates more than 120 schools globally.
The achievement follows her win last year in the same competition with the Baymin system, a healthcare-assistant robot intended to make basic health screening more accessible.
Baymin Air uses an air-quality sensor to assess environmental conditions and an LED indicator to display low-, medium- or high-risk levels. The prototype was inspired by Samputh’s experience of influenza spreading among learners at school.
She envisages the device being used in environments such as schools and hospitals, where monitoring air quality could help people identify conditions that may be associated with airborne illness.
The prototype uses air-quality sensing technology and healthcare-assistance tools to indicate environmental risk levels rather than diagnosing infections or confirming that a space is safe.
Samputh’s robotics projects have also prompted her to consider how she can extend the benefits of technology beyond her own inventions.
“A solution can change a moment. The ability to solve can change a life,” she explains. “What I really wanted to do wasn't just to solve problems for other people, but to give young people the ability and skills to create their own solutions.”
Coding opens doors
After her success with the Baymin robotics project, Samputh established Baymin Labs, a free, youth-led coding initiative for children aged nine to 13, working with The Seed Fund, a non-profit organisation supporting families in Durban’s Malacca Road informal settlement community.
She developed a six-week coding syllabus and secured almost R14 000 in corporate donations to buy three Samsung tablets and protective cases.
The programme introduces learners to Scratch, a visual programming platform through which beginners can create animations, stories and interactive projects.
The initiative builds on Samputh’s existing volunteer work at The Seed Fund’s homework club.
Her first coding class included nine Grade Three and Grade Four learners, many of whom had never been exposed to coding. She has since started teaching older children.
“The lessons give pupils an opportunity to experiment with programming concepts, work through problems and develop projects of their own.”
Samputh says the progress she has witnessed among learners has given her a different perspective on achievement.
Shelley Peringuey, head of college at Reddam House Umhlanga, praised Samputh for using her technical interests to support other children.
“I am so proud of Sinead. She uses every opportunity to uplift those less fortunate than her and is always looking for opportunities to make her passion for robotics and coding serve a greater purpose.
“Her drive, selflessness and compassion have ensured she embodies our school’s motto: ‘We Shall Give Back’. I have no doubt this special young lady will change the world one day.”
Samputh has completed more than 200 hours of coding training and continues to develop her robotics skills while balancing schoolwork, competitive sport and her projects. She runs Baymin Labs on Saturdays and hopes to expand the initiative to other underserved communities.
Her longer-term plan is to establish Baymin Academy, a paid coding enrichment programme that could help finance the free community classes.
For Samputh, the goal is to ensure her achievements create opportunities for others to develop their own skills.
"I don't want to win if winning means leaving others behind. The greatest journey is the one where we rise, learn and change the world together," she says.
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