Idara Attah, Imabong Apkan-Chinyere, and Mirabel Njoku are the three students of Greensprings School, who recently emerged as the overall best in Nigeria in the final stage of the Conrad Challenge.
They competed as Team Lavendaire and emerged as winners of the challenge for creating an innovative phone application and it earned them scholarships valued at $894,000 and a cash prize of N1.500 million.
The app known as Juiceitup, uses an AI algorithm to recommend personalised juice-making ratios from various fruits to aid recovery of patients who are ill.
This performance represents the second consecutive time Greensprings School students have won the challenge.
In addition to Team Lavendaire’s achievement, nine other teams from the school who made the finals were given a scholarship that amounted to $6,400,000 with the first runner-up team of the competition, also from the school, gaining a cash prize of N1 million.
The accomplishment of these students follows just a year after another trio from Greensprings, Segun Balogun, Adewale Saliu, and David Onukwugha, attained the overall best-in-Nigeria position in the 2023 Conrad Challenge and represented Nigeria at the Global Conrad Summit at NASA’s Johnson/Kennedy Space Center, USA.
Speaking on the outcome of the challenge, Afolabi Amusan, assistant principal of enhancement for the school, said the Greensprings School presented 10 teams of 35 students who had qualified from the initial stages of the competition.
Amusan said that while Team Lavendaire clinched the overall best-in-Nigeria award, some of the other teams won awards like first runner-up and best in Energy and Environment which was received by Team Mono; best in Aviation and Aerospace by Team Kryptonite; and best in Cyber Technology and Security won by Team Unit.
He said the school was mindful of its position as the national winner from 2023 and went into this year’s challenge to defend the title, adding that this year’s finalists took their performance a notch higher than the previous year.
Amusan said in addition to their cash prize and scholarships, Team Lavendaire will represent Nigeria in the 2024 Conrad World Summit in April at The Space Center in Houston, USA.
According to him, other teams, such as Team Mono, the 1st runner-up received a cash prize of N1 million while each member of the nine finalist teams was awarded $80,000 in Menlo College USA, $60,000 in Lewis & Clark College USA, and $60,000 in Clarkson University USA, making a total of $6,400,000 worth of scholarships for the students.
Also speaking, Lai Koiki, executive director of Greensprings, lauded the performance of the students and their mentors for this achievement.
On her part, Feyisara Ojugo, deputy director of education of the school expressed immense pride in the students’ achievements, adding that achievement is worth celebrating.
Ojugo said the school is proud that the hard work and effort that went into the challenge paid off with a positive outcome, lauding the team of teachers/coaches who worked with the students.
“Thank you for supporting our students to achieve this outstanding feat. And very well done to our resilient and industrious students for leveraging this opportunity and their parents for supporting them,” she said.
Ojugo said the school looks forward to celebrating many more achievements of its students.
The Conrad Challenge is a purpose-driven innovation competition to create the next generation of entrepreneurs who will change the world. It presents a unique opportunity for ingenious young minds in the country to collaborate, brainstorm, and come up with STEM-enabled innovations/inventions with market potential.
