Friday 8th of July 9:00 - 12:00
TReND in Africa
Friday 8th of July - 14:20 TReND in Africa - Teaching and research in natural sciences For development in Africa
TReND is a charity supporting scientific capacity building across Africa. We run cutting edge biomedical training courses, provide universities with scientific equipment, run academic volunteering and outreach schemes, and support and work with African researchers.
At TReND, we believe in the value of scientific innovation for economic and societal progress. We support biomedical research in Africa by giving African researchers the tools and expertise to advance their own research goals. Originally founded at Cambridge University, we are a non-profit organisation run primarily by a large network of scientist volunteers at top universities around the world. We are passionate about scientific empowerment and innovation.
As part of our efforts to help improve the scientific output in the continent, we are training researchers to adopt Open Science principles, for a more equitable, reliable and reproducible science. We are specifically providing training in the use of open-source tools for data analysis and for the development of research equipment.
The ability for anyone with an internet connection to create and share ideas and pieces of code freely over the internet has redefined software engineering from a niche for only for few specialists to the global community. But the open source movement does not stop there. Recent development of key open hardware tools make it possible to build real, physical machines, ranging from simple household items to complex and highly specialized laboratory equipment. Two developments are key: Cheap microcontroller boards, such as the <10€ Arduino, and the steeply falling costs of 3D printers (today a state-of-the-art printer can be purchased for below 300€).
Therefore, it is today both affordable and possible to set up a complete home-factory for sophisticated scientific equipment for under 1,000€. The impact of these possibilities can scarcely be overstated. Products are much cheaper than commercial equivalents, customized to specific demands, and can be produced locally within a few hours. Moreover, free sharing of designs via the internet means that the best designs will rapidly find a vast contributor-base to fix bugs or modify for new applications – a global community for free product design.
Find out more about TReND
Samyra worked as a project manager for companies in Brazil, Germany and United Kingdom. After volunteering for three years at TReND she decided to make a career change to help us develop and improve our courses and volunteering programs.
