Meet Yusuf Bilesanmi, a Nigerian engineer who has won the One to Watch Award at the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation for his creation of “ShiVent”, a low-cost, non-electric device ventilator that is efficient in its use of oxygen.

Yusuf Bilesanmi is a 37-year-old Nigerian who came from a humble background. He had his first degree at Lagos State University where he studied Law before he switched paths later to science and engineering.

ShiVent is a low-cost, non-electric, and non-invasive ventilator for patients with respiratory difficulties.

Explaining how it works, he said, “ShiVent does not require electricity, it is easy to install, non-invasive, and oxygen-efficient, and our belief is that it will help save lives when more expensive or oxygen-intensive technologies can’t get to patients.