Women showcase inventions at international exhibition
About 50 women exhibitors have showcased their inventions at this year’s international European Women Inventors, Innovators Network (EU-WIIN) exhibition, conference and awards ceremony currently going on in London, United Kingdom.
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The 5th biannual event is to celebrate women inventors and innovators, as well as build the capacities of participants, for the introduction of new products, processes and services with a special focus on women.
The women inventors came from Europe, Africa, the Middle and Far East to showcase their model products and programmes.
Ghanaian exhibitors
Two of the exhibitors are Ghanaians, namely Mrs Roselove Frempong and Ms Trudy Sakyibea Amoako. They were nominated by Ohemaa Nana Yaa Asaa Safoa II, Queenmother of Akwamufie and the Akwamu Traditional Area.
Mrs Frempong has invented a herbal-based ointment and solution known as Asmisol for dressing and cleaning of sores and wounds resulting from diabetes and sickle cell.
Ms Amoako’s invention can be termed Ghana’s version of Irish cream. Using tiger nuts, she has developed an alcoholic beverage flavoured with local fruits or coffee. Her product is known as Santa Roi and tastes like Baileys.
A Ghanaian innovator who could not make the trip is Ms Fulera Seidu. Using plants and herbs, she invented an anti-ageing cream and other products for the hair and skin.
Another Ghanaian who lives in the UK, Ms Hannah Mensah, has invented a special kind of spoon for feeding babies known as the “sing-along cutlery.”
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At the touch of a button, you could hear music, nursery rhymes, and sounds of letters and numbers being played from the spoon. This enables the child to enjoy his or her meal while having fun and learning at the same time.
Opening ceremony
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Britain’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Minister for Intellectual Property, advised women to believe in themselves in order to attain their goals.
She said believing in oneself was often key to sending the right signals to build up confidence and success.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe said the responsibility depended on women, especially those who had overcome challenges and tasted success, to help the innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs and inspire the next generation in schools and across our society.
UK’s innovators
Touching on the UK, she said it was a nation proud of its innovators, most prominent among them Sir Isaac Newton, Watson and Crick, and the inventor of the World-Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners Lee.
She said the world was at a better place today by ensuring women's contributions were recognised.
She also said, among others, that the UK Government had set out a challenging vision to make the UK the best place in Europe to patent new ideas, to innovate and to grow a business, adding: “It is an ambitious declaration of intent.”
The CEO of EU-WIIN, Dr Bola Olabisi, said from building digital infrastructures and new science, to low technology, high viability concepts and products, the network had continued to support women since 2006, when it was first set up.
Gender gap
That, she said, was specifically to bridge the gender gap and find effective ways of bringing assistance, tools and information to assist women in achieving significant growth.
The opening ceremony and panel discussions were held at the Regent’s University, London, and the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Aldwyn Cooper, in his welcome address, said the institution provided a high quality teaching environment to develop internationally enlightened, innovative and employable graduates.