FROM AN IDEA TO A REAL DEVICE

The idea sounded simple when Bohlale first imagined it.

Making it work was anything but simple.

The Alerting Earpiece had to be small enough to resemble an earring while still performing several technical tasks.

It needed a way to trigger the system.

It needed to capture an image.

And it needed to communicate with another device so that the alert could be received.

According to reporting from the time,[BE LIKE] Bohlale developed the prototype specifically to help women and children in dangerous situations, including gender-based violence and human trafficking.

The more she worked on the idea, the more complicated it became.

She wasn’t simply designing a piece of jewelry.

She was trying to combine electronics, communication technology, and a practical safety concept into something extremely small.

Eventually, she had a prototype that she could demonstrate.

Then came the moment that could have changed everything.

Bohlale entered the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, presenting her invention in the engineering-electronics and embedded-systems category.

She wasn’t standing in front of the judges with a huge machine.

She was presenting a tiny device that could potentially have a very large purpose.

The judges examined her work.

And then came the result.

Bronze medal.

For a 16-year-old student, it was a remarkable achievement.

The recognition showed that her project had been evaluated in a serious young-scientist competition and had earned an award.

But the medal wasn’t the end of the story.

In fact, it revealed the next problem Bohlale would have to face.

Winning recognition for a prototype is one thing.

Turning that prototype into a product that can be manufactured, tested, supported, and placed into people’s hands is something completely different.

And Bohlale still had a long road ahead.

Because she didn’t simply want people to admire her invention.

She wanted to make it better.

And eventually, she wanted it to become something people could actually use.