Progress, Potential, and Possibilities Podcast / Show Sibongile Mongadi, STEM Innovator, Founder, Uku’hamba, Improving The Lives Of Amputees Across Africa
On today’s episode we are going to continue our virtual global road trip over to the country of South Africa, to the Soweto township of the city of Johannesburg, and meet up with Ms. Sibongile Mongadi, Founder of Uku’hamba Pty Ltd, a start-up company that focuses on biotechnology and healthcare manufacturing with a goal of improving lives of amputees across Africa. Uku’hamba is a 100% black youth women owned company and Uku’hamba means "To Walk" in Zulu. Utilizing 3D printer and 3D scanning technologies, she has dedicated her career to developing prosthetic limbs that can be widely and cheaply manufactured. Her mission is to ensure prostheses are made available to anyone in need, greatly increasing the independence of amputees who may not currently be able to afford them. Ms. Mongadi has been designated as one of the top emerging innovators across Africa in 2018, named in the Inspiring Fifty’s class of 50 South African Women of 2019, and as a Top 100 South Africa Shining Stars for Science & Technology in 2019. When the Covid-19 pandemic struck South Africa, she redirected her company’s efforts to manufacturing safety equipment for front line workers. She has also worked with 3 other young innovators to build a contact-less thermometer sensor and hands-free, hand sanitizer system used in schools and corporate locations in the fight against COVID-19. Ms. Mongadi is also the founder of the Soweto Young Women Empowerment initiative that seeks to shape young women to be leaders in different spheres of society. Outside of this, she is also the chief marketing officer at Club Readership, a publishing company which seeks to celebrate African stories, who's work ignited a drive to open a library in rural Eastern Cape which saw her collect hundreds of books for needy pupils in the province. Ms. Mongadi has been educated at Cape Peninsula University of Technology and University of Johannesburg.