Kitante boy invents hair-braiding machine
Nov 03, 2003
A student of Kitante Hill School in Kampala has made a hair-braiding machine. Nelson Luswejje, 19, a senior five science student is the brain behind the machine
By Fred Nangoli
A student of Kitante Hill School in Kampala has made a hair-braiding machine. Nelson Luswejje, 19, a senior five science student is the brain behind the machine.
Luswejje says the machine uses the same principle as the human hands in braiding.
“But it is much faster than the human hands and can braid within 30 minutes. I tried this on my sister,†he says.
The machine uses both electricity and cells and uses simple gears in its operations which are operated by a simple motor run by an energy source.
Luswejje says he made the machine after observing that women were spending a lot of productive time in salons braiding their hair, which could be done faster with the aid of a machine like the one he has made.
“I developed the idea three months ago. I had escorted my sister to the salon to braid her hair but to my surprise it took the salon operators two days to complete the exercise. It was then that I decided that I should make a machine to braid hair faster,†he explains.
“However, for those two days I was able to observe how braiding was done and when I started designing the machine, I based its operations on the same principle as the hands,†he adds.
He says he cannot determine the price of the machine until it is fully perfected for the market. “I am modifying it further but my problem so far, is financial,†he says. He says he was facilitated by the National Councilor for Science and Technology to make the machine. the machine is not multi- design. It is a two-braid design but Luswejje says he has plans of making another one of a three-thread braid design.
“the machine may not be perfect but he has shown that it works. He needs all the encouragement and support to perfect the machine and later have it up for commercialisation,†Dr. Moses Musaazi of the Faculty of Technology, Makerere University says,
women spend a lot of time braiding their hair and Luswejje’s machine could go a long way in solving the problem. Musaazi says Luswejje’s machine could be the first in Uganda because he has not heard of any other in the country.
In 2000, Luswejje fabricated a simple lift demonstrating how a lift works and his innovation earned Kitante a top place in the national competition.
A student of Kitante Hill School in Kampala has made a hair-braiding machine. Nelson Luswejje, 19, a senior five science student is the brain behind the machine.
Luswejje says the machine uses the same principle as the human hands in braiding.
“But it is much faster than the human hands and can braid within 30 minutes. I tried this on my sister,†he says.
The machine uses both electricity and cells and uses simple gears in its operations which are operated by a simple motor run by an energy source.
Luswejje says he made the machine after observing that women were spending a lot of productive time in salons braiding their hair, which could be done faster with the aid of a machine like the one he has made.
“I developed the idea three months ago. I had escorted my sister to the salon to braid her hair but to my surprise it took the salon operators two days to complete the exercise. It was then that I decided that I should make a machine to braid hair faster,†he explains.
“However, for those two days I was able to observe how braiding was done and when I started designing the machine, I based its operations on the same principle as the hands,†he adds.
He says he cannot determine the price of the machine until it is fully perfected for the market. “I am modifying it further but my problem so far, is financial,†he says. He says he was facilitated by the National Councilor for Science and Technology to make the machine. the machine is not multi- design. It is a two-braid design but Luswejje says he has plans of making another one of a three-thread braid design.
“the machine may not be perfect but he has shown that it works. He needs all the encouragement and support to perfect the machine and later have it up for commercialisation,†Dr. Moses Musaazi of the Faculty of Technology, Makerere University says,
women spend a lot of time braiding their hair and Luswejje’s machine could go a long way in solving the problem. Musaazi says Luswejje’s machine could be the first in Uganda because he has not heard of any other in the country.
In 2000, Luswejje fabricated a simple lift demonstrating how a lift works and his innovation earned Kitante a top place in the national competition.