A team of four Mount Kenya University students is set to represent Kenya on the global stage after being selected as finalists in a prestigious international innovation competition in the United States of America.

Wesley Njenga, Franklin Mwendwa, Elijah Maina, and Ejike Chinyere, all from the university’s School of Public Health, will travel to Michigan next month to present their innovation at the Wege Prize.

This is a globally recognised competition organised by Ferris State University that draws student innovators from five continents.

The team’s entry, dubbed Ecoscrubber, is a hybrid emission control and carbon-capture system engineered to extract toxic pollutants and greenhouse gases from incinerator chimneys and transform the captured residues into usable construction materials such as bricks and building blocks, essentially converting industrial waste into a productive resource.

The inspiration behind the invention traces back to an ordinary moment on a road in Thika, where the students witnessed a truck belching thick black smoke while passersby struggled to breathe.

That encounter sparked a compelling question; could those harmful emissions be captured and repurposed rather than left to poison the air?

The team took that question back to the university’s Innovation Hub, where they began turning the concept into reality.

The process was not without its challenges, early prototypes fell short, compelling the students to rethink their design and refine their chemical processes through numerous rounds of testing and iteration before arriving at a functional solution.

Their work received backing from the university’s Innovation and Incubation Centre, with faculty mentors Vivian Mmbone and Donatus Njoroge providing guidance throughout.

“We are proud of their progress. The university provided technical support, exposure during the annual Research and Innovation Week, and guidance that helped shape the idea into a viable innovation,” the mentors noted.

Five finalist teams will compete at the live finals on May 15 for a share of a $65,000 (approximately Ksh 8.4 million) prize pool. Team lead Wesley Njenga expressed pride in how far the project had come.

“We are honoured to represent Mount Kenya University and Kenya on the global stage. Ecoscrubber is not just our project, it demonstrates that African students can develop solutions that compete with the best in the world,” he said.