Written by San3a Tech is a social enterprise established by young Egyptians to democratize technical innovation and build an impactful community of makers. It is also one of the Global Innovation Gathering hub members since 2022.
Egypt faces a critical problem of missing the importance of research and development in the community and its effect on the industry and the Egyptian economy. Therefore, there needs to be an environment to bring together people interested in making, innovation and technology. The main challenges faced by Egypt today include the following:
- Lack of hands-on learning techniques in schools and universities in Egypt, although Education and training are crucial to national’s industry development, economic growth and political stability.
- The Egyptian vocational schools need to provide the industry with qualified and skilled technicians.
- Craftsmanship produces low-quality creations due to different reasons.
These were the main drivers for San3a Tech founders to start the grass-root initiative in March 2012 through Fab Lab Egypt at first, followed by several projects and initiatives. San3a Tech empowers Egyptians in different sectors to participate in designing and making the products they use, such as physical objects and machines, to materialize their ideas.
Its mission is to enhance the makers’ community experience by offering hands-on workshops, educational programs and technical support. Everyone is a maker, but San3a wants makers who create things for a living. So, they spread makerspaces ideas and the community’s culture of making, innovation and exploration. The aim is to have world-class “Designed and made in MENA” products while applying global solutions to local problems.
Those who control the information control the world, but those who spur imagination will own the future.
San3a Tech team is working hard to achieve this vision through different sub-brands, which provide various services and programs for the innovation ecosystem in Egypt, from engineering services and lab installation to educational programs, capacity-building activities, and awareness events.
For example, San3a Tech has been conducting a Maker Diploma program for the public since 2015 through its sub-brand San3a Academy and with the support of different partners and sponsors. Maker Diploma is an 11-week training program designed to empower participants with the knowledge required to take ideas from concepts to prototypes, where participants go through the principles and practices affiliated with the art of making using digital fabrication and physical computing to have faster iterations, thus doing more in less time.
Participants of the program usually come from different backgrounds and, after several iterations, join one of the following six categories: Educators, Engineers, Product Designers & Architects, Artists, Hobbyists, and Researchers. The program’s primary goal is to equip public school educators with the skills to turn their ideas into prototypes and ensure they can ideate, design, fabricate, and implement low-fidelity prototypes. Educators with such skill sets will be able to use the different machinery and tools and utilize them to upscale their teaching experience, including STEM applications in their day-to-day teaching, and make the learning experience of their students more engaging and unique.
You can check all other outstanding programs developed by San3a Tecn at https://www.san3atech.com/projects
