Over the past two decades, scientifically and technologically-advanced
industrial nations have been working on developing a ‘smart’ journal
bearing. But success has been elusive.In 2010, Ali El-Shafei, a professor of mechanical engineering, patented the Smart Electro-Mechanical Actuator Journal Integrated Bearing (SEMAJIB), which he invented after eight years of design and development at Cairo University.
‟Importing designs from abroad has been the norm in developing countries,” explains El-Shafei, adding that this already happens in the region’s manufacturing industries, even when local parts are used.
‟With this innovation, we will export the design and the product,” he told SciDev.Net in an interview. A patent was filed in the United States in 2010, and another is on its way this year.
Having patented the invention gives a four- or five-year lead in this ‘race’ with the West, added El-Shafei. He says the innovation has caught the attention of manufacturing giants such as Siemens and General Electric.
It has also received recognition closer to home: El-Shafei won the grand prize at this year’s Innovation Prize for Africa ‒ a cash award of US$100,000 that he received from the president of Ghana at the award ceremony last July in Accra.
El-Shafei’s ‘smart’ bearing claimed the top prize after competing with 2,500 inventors from 48 African countries under the title 'Investing in Prosperity'. All the innovations were of high value and quality, according to the chair of the jury, Barthelemy Nyasse, and this made the selection process difficult. ‟Every innovation represents a local solution to local challenges,” he said.
According to the Nyasse, the ‘smart’ bearing proves that African creativity can compete on the global stage. El-Shafei believes it can also help transform the image of Africans from consumers to producers of technology. In addition, production of the technology in the region or the continent can create jobs for individuals and economic benefits for states.
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