Delvin’s Mission to Leverage Social Innovation for African Development

Delvin is an Ashinaga Africa Initiative (AAI) Scholar from Zimbabwe who studies Electrical Engineering at Union College in upstate New York; he will graduate in June 2024. Delvin is deeply interested in leveraging technological innovation to address pressing social challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout his time in the US, Delvin has worked towards this interest by augmenting his network and leadership skills through volunteerism in his local community, travels across different states, and participation in academic conferences.

 

During his sophomore year, Delvin returned to Zimbabwe via a Davis Projects for Peace grant to create disability-friendly restrooms at a remote school in rural Zimbabwe to enhance the lives of students living with disabilities. Delvin reflects: “This generous grant was a life-changing and empowering experience that invigorated my passion for contributing positive change to Zimbabwe, particularly in the field of disability inclusion.”

 

Devin is currently working on a group capstone project alongside an organization called ARC Schenectady, which has a greenhouse that helps individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities grow plants and gain skills and income. Delvin’s team aims to further improve this community resource by automating the heating and watering system coupled with a user-friendly Graphical Interface, alleviating tasks requiring heavy manual labor.

 

Looking ahead to the future, Delvin hopes to design affordable assistive medical devices in Zimbabwe and explore and develop Natural Language Processing models and apps. Delvin hopes to “empower speech-challenged individuals to express themselves more fluidly, fostering independence and improving their overall quality of life.”