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Name of your organization
Bahir Dar University
Bahir Dar Institute of Technology
Business Incubation and Techno-Entrepreneurship Centre (BiTec) -
Reliable email address (or another reliable way of official contact)
Dr. Amare Kassaw, amex2121@gamil.com, +251-929-267-116
Dr. Seifu Adimasu, satadm86@gmail.com, +251-929,-919-962 -
Tell us about your organization
Business Incubation and Techno-Entrepreneurship Center (BiTec) is an incubating center under Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University. It was initially established by BiT-BDU in 2018. The main aim of the center is to enable students and staff to prototype and commercialize technologies, create jobs, and strengthen local economies by producing financially viable small firms. The business idea behind the center is to inspire, facilitate and support young entrepreneurs and to help them to create their own businesses. In this regard the center mainly works on innovation, business incubation, technology transfer, techno-entrepreneurship, and startup prototyping. The institute has strong commitment that a successful implementation of this idea shall result in the creation of jobs and contribute to the national economic growth.
Under BiTec, the BiT MakerSpace was established in 2019 as part of BiTec to enhance innovation culture and creates a space for business incubates prototyping and sample production. The BiT Makerspace at Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University aims to create an innovative environment for BiT students and staff. The Makerspace has been organized with state-of-the-art 3D-printing, electromechanical, digital electronics, computer laboratory, CNC and Laser Cutting Machines, Digital Manufacturing Tools. The BiT Makerspace provides has the potential to be an innovation hub to allow students to develop multiple projects.
The activity of the center will take part from pre-incubation to post-incubation period which ranges from making calls to business ideas up to creating successful start-ups and entrepreneurs. To do that, the center is structured with coaching members mainly containing coaches for giving training on entrepreneurship and business idea development and technical coaching. Since Bahir Dar University is focusing on different industries, BiTec will work on different incubation to create a startup in the area. Using the developed partnerships with different industries, universities, partners and vocational colleges, the start-ups will benefit from getting support to transfer their business ideas and prototypes to the next level.
The BiT Makerspace serves as a hub for business incubation and startup prototyping. The center has well-organized facilities, resources and experienced staff. The makerspace established to create an innovative environment for students and staff at the university and the community at large. The BiT Makerspace is a business incubation and entrepreneur hub that provides human-centered design, techno-entrepreneurial, business incubation and prototyping skills.
The BiT Maker Space is founded in 2019 by Dr Seifu A Tilahun, Miss Sewnet Alemu and Mr Henok Mebratie from Bahir Dar Institute of Technology together with Dr Lara Allen from the Center for Global Equity. The need to establish the Makerspace at Bahir Dar University was a case in point. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the founding of BiT Makerspace is part of an ongoing partnership between BiT and Center for Global Equality (CGE) to create an enabling environment in Bahir Dar for Inclusive Innovation. The makerspace is now a flagship initiative of Business Incubation and Techno-Entrepreneurship Centre at Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University. Currently the Make Space is directed by Dr Amare Kassaw and coordinated by Ms. Bezawork Tilahun. The BiT MakerSpace is cooperated with Bahir Dar University, CGE, GIZ, University of Cambridge, University of Wisconsin, University of Bath, USAID, IWMI and PUM.
Some of the innovative products at the BiT Maker Space include fingerprint scanner for the University, Packaging papers and tableware from agricultural bi-product, glue from defatted soy flour, OpenFlex optical microscope, 3D printed masks and face shields, laser cutting face shields, oxygen concentrator, prosthetic hand, handheld soil moisture meter and RAY cosmetics which entails cosmetics produced from fish scale and a Turbo ventilator.
In 2022, the makerspace plans to conduct an Annual Hackathon/Makerthons on Agri-Tech, Digital Health, Artificial Intelligence Apps, Alternative and Smart Energy Technologies to provide problem-solving innovation results focusing on the country’s priorities and responding to the development needs of the country through technology-based services. We also plan to prepare human centered design (HCD), business incubation and prototyping training for selected Graduate projects and increasing the participation of women, youth, students, and graduates at the Makerspace activities. By creating and strengthening partnerships with foreign partners, the Makerspace has involved in different innovation projects. To achieve this plan, the BiT Makerspace is also working on increasing partners from universities, government offices and international organizations.
- Does your organization have representation for a marginalized demographic due to factors such as, but not limited to, race, ability, place of birth, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class situation or other identification? If so, how?
The BiT Maker Space is working on providing opportunities for females, low income students and marginalized communities. The center provides the place for them to incubate, prototype and develop their innovation ideas into valuable products. To achieve this, we establish a female innovation support (FIS) group that follow up and facilitate opportunities and facilities for female students to enhance their innovation and research culture in technology and engineering.
Besides, the center hunts and support high school and middle school students in the rural area who have special talents, but could not have the opportunity to exercise their talents. Further, a Hackathon and Makerthons are prepared for the females and marginalized communities to support them to incubate their ideas into business.
By using the above experiences and platforms, the workshop team is committed to promote gender equality in the program. Engineering and technology is currently poorly representative of the gender balance in most of African countries. To promote the experience and advancement of women in open source design and development, the workshop team commits to maintain a good participation of women open source design experts in the workshop.
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How would your event address GOSH’s values of diversity and inclusion?
We plan to provide prior opportunities for females and various communities to attend the workshop. To achieve this, experience sharing, networking and partnership session shall be established for females, high school and middle school students to integrate themselves with the workshop participants. Besides, the event will be open for everyone regards gender, ethnic and economy.
Thus, the workshop shall create accessibility and sharing on science for females and marginalized communities. Besides, the workshop shall bring empowerment and impact to share the best experiences on opensource system design and development. It helps to integrate the female and disadvantaged communities with the experienced scientists and technologists. That helps to avoid the digital divide and enhances the democratization of science in developing country, Ethiopia. Besides, a Biohackathon competition will be done at the workshop by BDU students who have ideas and startups on opensource applications and systems. Experienced juries shall be assigned to evaluate the pitching of the Biohackathon computation. This helps to distribute Open Science to the larger community -
What is the event about, and what do you want to achieve with it?
Our event is regional workshop on OpenFlex Microscope design, standardization and utilization in Ethiopia. We expect above many audiences from the region, universities, and national communities. The workshop helps to establish a network among OpenFlex Microscope experts and scientists that help to enhance the regional capacity in OpenFlex Microscope image acquisition, feature extraction and analysis in Ethiopia. To realize this, the workshop shall gather opensource system and OpenFlex Microscope experts and scientists from regional institutes. Besides, experts from Center for Global Equality, University of Bath and other African Maker Space Networks will support and share their experiences to the workshop virtually.
- How will your event contribute to advancing OPEN SCIENCE HARDWARE ?
If the regional workshop is implemented successfully, it will lead to:
-Share best experiences on open source device design and development.
-Share best experiences on open source device standardization
-Provide knowledge on OpenFlex microscopy design and development.
-This will lead to increase the number of OpenFlex microscopy experts and scientists with expertise in design, development, standardization and utilization.
-Ultimately, enhancing capacity in OpenFlex microscopy imaging will improve the diagnosis; treatment and patient follow up accuracy in clinics and hospitals, and contribute health and wellbeing across Ethiopia.
- How does your event address each item in the review criteria table above?
We plan to prepare a workshop to discuss on OpenFlex Microscope design, development and standardization in particular and opensource system and device in general. To realize this, we utilize our profound experience on OpenFlex Microscope Design and development. Besides, we integrate our partners and collaborators from Europe and other African countries. Hence, our proposal meets the eligibility criteria.
We plan to create a platform for OpenFlex Microscope imaging scientists to share their best experiences and learn recent opensource technologies and tools. Besides, the workshop aims to create a place for female and marginalized communities to get experiences and knowledge on Opensource system design. Furthermore, the forum aims to establish a network of scientists and technologies on Opensource design and development for developing country Ethiopia. Finally, a Biohackathon competition will be done at the workshop by BDU students who have ideas and startups on opensource applications and systems.
In this regard, if the workshop is implemented successfully, it will lead to an increased number of OpenFlex Microscope researchers having received training on how to design, develop, and standardized open source system. It helps to advance regional collaboration through better utilization of regional knowledge and resources. It helps to integrate regional network organization engaging in collaboration with their counterparts globally which helps to improve the capacity in the region.
To realize the workshop and Biohackathon in this very short time period, we plan to utilize our networks in the region, Africa and Europe. In this regard, we plan to participate our OpenFlex Microscope partners from UK and Africa to the even virtually. Besides, we can utilize the regional university hubs to get support and cooperation for the workshop preparation.
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Which of the three levels of funding would you like to apply for? (USD $3000, $6000, or $9910)
The requested budget for the workshop is $9, 910.00 USD. -
What is the funding for? Describe your budget. List what you are going to spend it on and how.
The detailed budget breakdown for the project is shown in the Table below .-Conference room, tea-coffee and lunch to participants = $ 2,500 USD.
-Printing, stationary materials, banners and posters= $1,000 USD.
-Travel expense for national experts from various Ethiopian institutes= $2, 500 USD.
-External experts for conference organizing, preparation and reporting= $2,000 USD.
-Awards for three Biohackathon competition= $1,000 USD.
-Platform development to share resources and outputs of the workshop= $910 USD.
Hence, the total project budget to run the workshop is $9, 910.00 USD.
11. How will you share the outcomes of this event. What documentation or other outputs will benefit the open science hardware community as a whole? (videos? photos? a how-to or other education materials? innovative hardware designs?)
We plan to record the workshop events and sessions. Then, we will upload the event reports and results in Bahir Dar University and BiT Makerspace website and Social Media sites. Besides, we will communicate the national and regional media to attend and share events to the larger community. Furthermore, a detail reporting and analysis shall be done to summarize the results and achievements of the event.
12. Can you confirm that at least the primary output from your event will be published under an appropriate open source license as described above in this announcement?
The team shall work on to publish the results and outputs of the event on appropriate open source license platforms. To achieve this, we will integrate and utilize our partners from the Center of Global Equity, University of Cambridge, University of Bath and other African Institutes that work on OpenFlex Microscope and other Open source systems. Hence, all the results and findings of the event shall be access freely to the open science community.
13. Are there any conflicts of interest that you wish to declare? (a conflict of interest does not always mean disqualification!)
There is no any conflict of interest related to this event.
Amare Kassaw Yimer (PhD)
Director, Business Incubation and Techno-entrepreneurship center (BiTec)
Assistant Professor at Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University
Phone: +251-929267116,
Email: amex2121 @ gmail.com , amare1616@yaoo.com,