Third-year student, Kwanele Ayanda Mazibuko (21) , who is studying towards her Bachelor in Information and Communications Technology, is making digital strides in hackathons, robotics, and her entrepreneurship journey.
The founder of SINGAWE Innovative and NASA enthusiast from Emangweni in Estcourt, is currently, along with her team, working on exciting projects to enhance the community digitally with her innovative electronic tablet. Her exciting tablet which she and her team are working on, will be embedded in a table permanently whilst attached to the floor.
“This tablet will be taken to the underserved communities where resources are often stolen. Also, with another challenge being electricity, this unique tablet will run on solar power. The tablet also has an educational website, which we have created, and it is embedded in it. It’s a work still in progress, and the aim is to make it function offline,” said the elated Mazibuko.
The coding fundi, who is no stranger to developing prototypes, was also leading a development team for their research of a prototype, a school project named Farmer’s Hand, which uses a combination of technologies based on Fog Computing principles, enabling efficient data processing closer to the sensors and users for real-time data feedback.
“We used soil moisture sensors connected to an Arduino Mega, which sends data to Single Board Computers (SBCs) like the Raspberry Pi 3, acting as local processing nodes. This decentralized setup ensures that data is processed quickly at the edge, minimizing delays. The processed data is then stored in Firebase for real-time synchronization. We displayed this data using interactive graphs on a website built with the Flask framework, incorporating Python, CSS, JavaScript, and HTML for a seamless user experience,” she elaborated. Additionally, she explained that she and her team have integrated a Chabot, built with Voiceflow, to offer an intuitive interface for user interactions, enhancing accessibility to the prototype’s features. “These are the two major and exhilarating projects that my team and I are currently working on. This project was selected for presentation at the DUT Project day, under the guidance of our passionate lecturer, Lindelweyizizwe Manqele” she said.
While ICT had never crossed Mazibuko’s mind, she always knew that at some point, she had wanted to embark on a career that entailed robotics and coding.
“I’m a sci-fi movie kind of girl, and I was lucky enough to grow up with some access to technology. Being a female, I had to stay indoors. If I wasn’t studying, I would be watching movies and NASA documentaries as I thought someday I would become an astronaut but I never applied. I thank my mom for assisting me to apply at DUT, she relayed.
Speaking further on her business, SINGAWE Innovative, Mazibuko shared that she enjoys participating in Information Technology (IT) competitions and hackathons.
“All my life, I tried to stay away from competitions because they were too intimidating. However, I then realised I could not lead, mentor, or assist others in entering competitions if I wasn’t willing to take part myself. So, I stepped out of my comfort zone and went for it. What I love most is that I am now free to bring all these ideas running through my head to life, now I can confidently guide learners through related journeys under SINGAWE Innovative” she explained.
Mazibuko has entered competitions such as The GirlCode Hackathon which was her first hackathon experience. The second competition was the Telkom Hackathon, where she and her team, The K.C.A secured third place and won R5000. This led her and the team to participate in the Annual Geekulcha Hackathon in Pretoria. “While we did not win, I was recognized and awarded as the Best Female Hacker with the most innovative idea by Udarkie, Telkom, and Geekulcha. This recognition meant a lot to my team and me, motivating us to keep working on our prototype and website, the KCA and EasyLink, this has created great relationships with the hackathon organizers as Geekulacha has invited us to the exclusive GITHUB Constellation South Africa event and 3-hour hackathon in Sandton, where we will be among 300 innovators, USA GitHub team and the GitHub CEO and I was lucky enough to be selected for an exclusive GitHub Copilot Training among 50 other developers during the event where we will be trained by one of the expert GitHub Copilot Instructor Ms. Adeyinka J. Oresanya. We never thought a simple Telkom hackathon participation could lead us this far” she added. She also recently Participated in and organised for DUT Students to have a physical experience of the FNB App of the Year hackathon at the DUT Arm lab for three days, which was held online for everybody else. The teams are waiting for the final results.
Mazibuko indicated that ENVISION2030 has enhanced her choice of study by supporting and endorsing robotics, ICT, and technology in general. “In most cases, this brings us closer to sustainable practices. As someone in the early stages of practicing a circular economy, I am more than happy to be pursuing this course, as it allows me to continue developing and improving existing methods, that are not only good for us as humans but also environmentally friendly” she said.
With role models such as Elon Musk and DUT alumnus, Zime Nxumalo, Mazibuko strives to make them proud, going forward in her studies, competitions, and entrepreneurship journey.
Pictured: Kwanele Ayanda Mazibuko
Waheeda Peters
