By Al-Mustapha A. Mustapha
Four students of Usra Academy, Kaduna, have emerged winners of the STEM Creativity Festival Series 7.0 at the Kaduna Innovation Challenge 2026 after developing an automatic water dispenser.
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The competition, held at Yar’Adua Hall, M Square, Kaduna, attracted 39 invited schools, with 21 participating in the presentation stage.
The students clinched the first position with an innovation designed to dispense water automatically when a cup is placed beneath it and stop when the cup is removed.
The team leader, Taisha Abdulmalik, a 15-year-old SS2 student, said the dispenser was developed by improving on an existing innovation rather than creating something entirely new.
She said the project showed that innovation could also involve finding ways to make existing ideas more useful.
“Even if we cannot do something new, we could improve an innovation, and that is what we did,” she said.
The students explained that the dispenser uses a detection mechanism to recognise when a cup is placed beneath it, releasing water automatically and stopping once the cup is removed.
Other members of the winning team are Muhammad Mukhtar, 16; Meisha Abdulmalik, 15; and Arqam Mahmud, 14. All four students are in SS2.
Two teachers accompanied the students, making up the six-member team that represented the school at the competition.
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