Somaya Faruqi
Somaya Faruqi (born 2002) is an Afghan student and engineer, currently the captain of the Afghan Girls Robotic Team,[1] also known as the "Afghan Dreamers."[2][3] She was named to the BBC's 100 Women in 2020 and was featured by UNICEF in 2020 as well as the UN Women Generation Equality campaign in 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, her team designed a prototype ventilator to help fight the coronavirus in Afghanistan.[4]
Early life and education
Faruqi was born in 2002[5] and is from Herat city, in western Afghanistan.[1] As a child, she became interested in engineering by watching and working with her father in his car repair shop.[1] Her mother had been unable to have a formal education past the age of ten, due to Taliban restrictions on the education of females.[1] Faruqi has said, "I want to become an electronic engineer in the future, and I am blessed to have the full support of my mom and dad."[6]
Career
In 2017, at age 14,[7] Faruqi was one of six members of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team that traveled to the United States to participate in the international FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition.[8][9] In 2018, the team trained in Canada, continued to travel in the United States for months and participate in competitions.[8] After their United States visas expired, Faruqi participated in team competitions in Estonia and Istanbul.[8]
By early 2020, at age 17,[2] Faruqi became the captain of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team.[10] The team meets on a daily basis after school.[1] In March 2020, the governor of Herat at the time, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a scarcity of ventilators, sought help with the design of low-cost ventilators,[11] and the Afghan Girls Robotics Team was one of six teams contacted by the government.[1] Using a design from MIT[11] and with guidance from MIT engineers and Douglas Chin, a surgeon in California, the team developed a prototype with Toyota Corolla parts[2][7] and a chain drive from a Honda motorcycle.[3] Faruqi's father served as a driver for the team, picking them up from their homes and driving on side streets to avoid checkpoints to help them get to their workshop.[7] UNICEF also supported the team with the acquistion of necessary parts during the three months they spent building the prototype[6] that was completed in July 2020.[12][13]
In December 2020, Minister of Industry and Commerce Nizar Ahmad Ghoryani donated funding and obtained land for a factory to produce the ventilators.[1] Under the direction of their mentor Roya Mahboob, the CEO of Afghan Citadel Software Company, the Afghan Dreamers have also designed a UVC Robot for sanitization, and a Spray Robot for disinfection, both of which have been approved by the Ministry of Health for production.[1]
Honors and awards
- 2017 Silver medal for Courageous Achievement at the FIRST Global Challenge, science and technology[5]
- Benefiting Humanity in AI award at World Summit AI[5]
- Janet Ivey-Duensing's Permission to Dream Award at the Raw Science Film Festival[5]
- 2018 Entrepreneurship Challenge at Robotex in Estonia[5]
- 2020 BBC's 100 Women[5]
- TEEN. GIRL. ACTIVIST. (UNICEF, October 9, 2020)[14]
- 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia[15]
- Inspiring girls to know: Four stories to celebrate girls in ICT (UN Women, April 21, 2021)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Billing, Lynzy (March 15, 2021). "The female Afghan tech entrepreneurs inspiring each other". Al Jazeera.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hadid, Diaa (2020-05-19). "Unique Robotic Team In Afghanistan Creates Affordable Ventilator Prototype". NPR.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Haidare, Sodaba (May 20, 2020). "Coronavirus: Afghan girls make ventilators out of car parts". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ "I am Generation Equality: Somaya Faruqi, young Afghan innovator who led the development of a low-cost ventilator prototype". UN Women. 2021-02-09.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "BBC 100 Women 2020: Who is on the list this year?". BBC. 2020-11-23.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ghafary, Narges (August 6, 2020). "From Dream to Reality". UNICEF. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Akhgar, Tameem (April 19, 2020). "Ventilator from old car parts? Afghan girls pursue prototype". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Harman, Danna (March 30, 2019). "'In Afghanistan, We Laugh Differently'". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ Cochrane, Emily (July 18, 2017). "Afghan Girls' Robotics Team Wins Limelight at Competition". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ Glinski, Stefanie (4 June 2020). "With bike chains and car parts, Afghan girls build ventilators". Thomson Reuters Foundation News. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Hadid, Diaa (May 21, 2020). "All-Girl Robotics Team In Afghanistan Works On Low-Cost Ventilator … With Car Parts". KPBS. NPR. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ "The school girls saving Afghanistan from COVID". Reuters. July 21, 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ Lamb, Christina (July 19, 2020). "Teenage girls breathe hope into Afghanistan with Covid ventilator made of old car parts". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ Jones, Alexandra Mae (October 11, 2020). "COVID-19 has exacerbated the issues girls around the world face: UNICEF". CTV News. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ↑ Kang, John (2021-04-19). "Get To Know The Youngest Members Of Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021". Forbes.
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