By Waziri Mahdi Isa & Michelle Tungkat Niyang
The ENACTUS Teams of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Kaduna Polytechnic clinched First, Second and Third positions respectively in the just concluded 2025 Schneider Battery Innovation Challenge 2.0 organized by Schneider Electric in collaboration with Enactus Nigeria.
Consequently, the three institutions won cash prizes of 2000, 1,500 and 1000 Euros respectively
The competition which had several stages and lasted for months, had its grand finale on the 2nd of July, at the Civic Centre Lekki, Lagos Nigeria, which involved the top 5 teams and their beautiful ideas. The Enactus ABU team under the supervision of its Faculty Advisor, Prof. M. K. Aliyu.
The final began with a demo and live interaction with representatives of Schneider Electric and judges, where the working principles of Cell Metrix was explained as well as a live demonstration of the prototype led by the project manager Abdulmalik Yahaya. After which he proceeded with a live pitch session where the team did an excellent job in pitching the solution to the industry experts of Schneider Electric, the judges and the general audience, which was followed by a question-and-answer session.
In line with the requirements and scope of the competition, the Enactus ABU team came up with a unique and innovative Battery Management System integrated with Artificial Intelligence called “CELL METRIX” which is a modular system designed to predict battery failures and downtimes, and to take proactive steps and measures in preventing them prior rather than react after damage is done, thereby increasing battery life, efficiency and reducing downtimes caused by thermal runoffs, inefficient charging among other problems.
Cell Metrix combines the power of AI in predictive analysis based on data analysis and recurring patterns, and is a mix of both a hardware component and a software tool. This is a timely solution to battery problems faced by many users and offers a cost-effective solution to addressing this problem, increasing efficiency and life span, seeing that batteries are the future of energy.