Ugandan-made 10-baby incubator to be installed at Kawempe

Ugandan Chris Nsamba points at his mind-blowing incubator innovation – dubbed SAVANT X

A baby incubator with a carrying capacity of up to ten babies at the same time has been fabricated by a Ugandan known as Christopher Nsamba and is set to be installed at the National Referral Hospital at Kawempe.

The Ministry of Health Permanent secretary Dr. Diana Atwine, whom the innovator acknowledges as having played a key role in the realisation of the project, confirmed the news in a tweet yesterday June 7, 2020.

This is the second incubator that Nsamba has built. The first incubator he manufactured and installed in Mukono hospital has saved more than 250 babies.

A video of Nsamba’s first incubator, dubbed SAVANT GENIUS available on his organisation’s website http://africanscientist.org, carries testimonies of nurses at Mukono Grade IV, expressing relief at the way the machine helped save the lives of premature and neonatal babies as well as the stress they endured in trying to save the babies.

During its launch at Mukono Grade IV hospital Dr. Diana Atwine, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health said Nsamba’s innovation was the first of its kind in the world.

Nsamba’s SAVANT GENIUS incubator has been used in Mukono grace IV hospital and has saved more than 250 children.

Now, Nsamba has advanced from a one-baby incubator to a 1o-baby incubator and his innovation is set to be installed at the Kawempe wing of Mulago national referral hospital.

The new 10-baby incubator, dubbed SAVANT X is the largest and most advanced in the world, according to Nsamba, even though it’s manufacture from the backyard of his home/workshop in Ntinda has eluded the recognition of the President especially in recent addresses that have focused on turning Uganda’s ingenuity into a tool for economic development.

Judging by the level of sophistication that is built in Nsamba’s innovation, one would have thought that he would be one of the scientists the president would look up to for solving challenges such as developing ventilators and other essential items to help respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

A brief description of the SAVANT X incubator reveals that it has 638 features including very sophisticated technology such as wireless delivery of oxygen, a heat bank that can store heat for up to 6 days, 1087 sensors and face recognition for safety of the babies. Besides all operations of the SAVANT X machine are fully computerised.

The news of the impending deployment of Nsamba’s incubator and indeed the sophistication that is embedded in the machine, has shocked many people, perhaps because of the the fact that it has not attracted as much publicity locally that matches its sophistication.

Who is Christopher Nsamba

Christopher Nsamba is just 35 years old but has over 40 innovations to his name. Possibly the main reason his innovations and indeed his name remain under the radar of the public’s view is that a great of his work is of military significance and being kept secret.

Inventor Christopher Nsamba

In fact Nsamba acknowledges that he enjoys protection from the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) and has received support not only from Dr. Diana Atwine but also from president Museveni’s past principal private secretaries.

Nsamba spent his teenage years in the United States where he studied astronomy. He received some military training as a member of the US Marines, his website suggests.

Nsamba served under the US military

On returning to Uganda, he founded the African Space Research Program, with the dream of building Africa’s and indeed Uganda very first space craft.

A 2011 BBC report on Nsamba’s space adventure described his project more as a dream meant to test out his engineering skills than a realistic space programme.

BBC’s journalist Anna Cavell reported then that: “The plane they’ve built is sandwiched tightly, nose-to-tail, between two single-storey buildings which house Chris and his team. It is painted blue and white and has the Ugandan flag proudly displayed on the side of the cockpit.

It’s far from complete, there’s still no engine – just a pile of bricks to simulate weight, and a mass of wires hang out underneath. But it still seems like quite an achievement and if this hadn’t been a space programme I’d have been pretty impressed,” Cavell reported.

But a brief about Nsamba’s completed projects reveals that he was successful in sending his Cadimella spacecraft to lower space with a live rat and then back to earth.

Although he has launched some attacks at the Ministry of Science and Innovations for refusing to fund him, there is a long history of government’s acknowledgement and support towards his projects. These include President Museveni’s personal call to thank him as well as a presidential grant towards his work and visits by top government officials including Vice President Kiwanuka Ssekandi and Amama Mbabazi when he was still Prime Minister of Uganda.

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