Bridging engineering education and local innovation ecosystems in Africa through the invention education model

This article shares lessons and impacts of solving engineering problems through Invention Education (IvE) in Africa. IvE is a transdisciplinary approach to engineering education that cultivates an ecosystem for fostering technical innovation to solve local and global challenges. The article shares a model of IvE, which includes the establishment and expansion of design studios as hands-on prototyping spaces for technology design, curricular integration of active learning and problem-based learning across engineering departments, and establishment of innovation ecosystem partnerships.

Invention Education is a novel, transdisciplinary approach to engineering education that fosters technical innovation, improves health outcomes, and reduces poverty. While global evidence of IvE’s impact in high-income settings is well-documented, few successful models have been developed by and collaboratively created with universities in Africa. Our multi-institutional team, representing institutions from Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, the United States, and Ethiopia, has developed a scalable IvE model designed to empower engineering students in sub-Saharan Africa to solve real-world challenges. This article presents key outcomes of the IvE model, including the establishment of design studios as hubs for innovation, curricular integration of active learning methodologies, and the strengthening of partnerships within local innovation ecosystems. Drawing on 8 years of implementation, this work provides critical insights into the advancement of engineering education and innovation ecosystems in a geographical region that has untapped potential for these models. Finally, the discussion outlines a forward-looking plan to assess the sustainability of the model and its potential for broader scaling across diverse regional contexts.