Innovation Garage
Catalyzing Engineering Solutions
Where Ideas Meet Action
Innovation is the cornerstone of development, but even the most brilliant ideas need a space to be tested, refined, and built. The ResilientAfrica Network (RAN) Innovation Garage, hosted at the Eastern Africa Resilience Innovation Lab (EA RILab), is that space.
Launched in 2015 in partnership with the Innovation Consortium, the Garage was established with a powerful theme: “Catalyzing Engineering Solutions.” It serves as a vibrant hub where some of Africa’s most promising ideas get their “first sparks for ignition.”
The Innovation Garage is a multidisciplinary environment that brings together a “radical” mix of minds, including:
- Engineers (Telecom, Mechanical, Electrical)
- Architects and Designers
- Social Scientists & Public Health Specialists
- Students and Practicing Professionals
What We Do: The Garage Experience
The Innovation Garage is not a traditional seminar; it is a hands-on, collaborative “quick-fix” session held every last Friday of the month. Participants enter a space where the sign on the door reads: “Garage in Progress, watch your steps!”
- Collaborative Problem Solving: Innovators present their current hurdles—whether it's a technical bottleneck or a design flaw—and the group engages in intense brainstorming to suggest immediate solutions.
- Radical Cost Reduction: We focus on making technology accessible. A primary goal is often re-engineering solutions to be more affordable, such as our work with RootIO Community Radio, where the Garage helped brainstorm ways to reduce tower costs from $3,000 to $500.
- Rapid Prototyping & Skilling: Participants are equipped with unique skills, advanced tools, and insights on how to "push the reset button" to reinvent and re-calibrate existing products for the local market.
- Propelling to Scale: By providing useful connections to partners and the Innovation Consortium’s mechanical workshops, we help move rough prototypes toward market-ready products.
