Rwandese student wins Google Gadget Competition

Antoine Nzeyimana from the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology in Rwanda is the winner of the inaugural Google East Africa Gadget Competition.

"The East Africa Gadget Team was impressed by the quality and level of creativity of the submissions, which did not make it easy for our panel to select the winners," read a statement from Google.

Nzeyimana won US$600 for his Igisoro gadget, a take on the two-player board game that is primarily popular in Rwanda.

Google launched the gadget competition in February and received applications from students at 10 universities in six East African countries, all interested in creating and developing the "next big thing."

"Following several other such competitions around the world, the East Africa contest was the first of its kind," read Google's statement. "The competition gave East African students an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and to combine outstanding creativity and exceptional technical skills."

The five runners-up were Charty Wizard by Murithi Borona (University of Nairobi) for best gadget, Random African Proverb by Peter Munene Karunyu (Moi University) for best local content, Deaf/Braille Alphabets by Jean Claude Nzayisenga (National University of Rwanda) for best education-specific gadget, Sliding Puzzle by Miano Njoka (JKUAT, Kenya) for best procrastinator and Add Mad by Hussein Lightwalla (Strathmore University, Kenya) for most technically sophisticated gadget. The runners-up will receive $350 each.

Within the six months of the competition period, the students withstood technical difficulties and received support from Google staff through e-mail, eventually submitting 41 fully functional gadgets.

"The high quality level of the gadgets and their relevance for local as well as international users will attract a high number of users not only in Africa but around the world," the statement noted.