Footsteps of change: Rachel Fatuma's dream powers sustainable energy

By Firmain Eric Mbadinga

Rachel Fatuma, a young Congolese woman, could be mistaken for one among thousands of youths in the Democratic Republic of Congo trying to find their feet in an evolving and demanding world.

But she isn't just another face in the crowd.

As someone nurturing an unbridled passion for science, this final-year engineering student at Ruwenzori University in Kinshasa is always challenging herself to achieve something that reflects her strength of character and ambition to make a difference.

At 24, Rachel has developed a unique system that enables energy generation by stepping and dancing on tiles made from cheap and easily accessible materials.

"The system is based on the pressure exerted by human footsteps on what I call energy tiles. They produce electrical energy when you walk on them," Rachel explains to TRT Afrika.

It was in 2023 that Rachel presented her first prototype of energy tiles to the scientific community.

The presentation marked the culmination of a project she had been working on for years, and the fulfilment of a dream she had since she was a child.

Rachel's near and dear ones form her first circle of support. Her father, mother, brothers, and sisters have all consistently encouraged the innovator to go ahead and challenge those who say that engineering studies are only for men.

The inspiration to do so is, of course, in her DNA. Rachel's passion for innovation stems from her father, a building and public works engineer.

Hugues Twaha, one of her close friends, has seen Rachel evolve in her scientific pursuits since she was a child.

"She and I have shared our journey from nursery through secondary school to the Institut Technique Industriel de Mahamba in Butembo, where we studied general and industrial electricity," says Hugues.

"Rachel always shone through with her determination and daring. The only woman in a largely male class, she never hesitated to innovate, try new things, and push back the boundaries. Her ability to take risks and imagine new solutions is a testament to her strength and her love for this demanding field."

Germ of an idea

The concept of creating a system of generating electricity by stomping on a set of tiles was born out of the first known installation to use pedestrians' footsteps to generate energy, dating back to 1983.

Toulouse Metro in France had what was called a "piezoelectric pavement" that produced electricity from the act of footsteps hitting the installation.

Rachel acknowledges that this system was the source of her inspiration.

The distinction between the Kinshasa system and that of Toulouse lies in the latter's utilisation of piezoelectric materials for energy generation, whereas Rachel's method employs an electromechanical energy production system.

Piezoelectricity was discovered in 1880 by brothers Pierre and Paul-Jacques Curie, who found that when certain types of crystals – quartz, tourmaline, and Rochelle salt — were compressed along specific axes, a voltage was produced on the surface of the crystal.

Decades earlier, in 1817, the Frenchman Abbé René Just Haüy is credited with doing the foundational work in crystallography that significantly advanced the understanding of crystal structures and their properties.

Fundamental set-up

Rachel's system operates with a simple set-up.

"The components of my tiles are a stainless-steel sheet, springs, and generators. Energy tiles in electromechanical energy generation systems use a spring mechanism to convert mechanical movement into electrical energy," she tells TRT Afrika.

In these devices, a spring is utilised to store and subsequently release the energy generated by the deformation of the slab.

"When the spring is compressed during deformation, it stores elastic potential energy. Then, when the mechanical stress is no longer there, the spring relaxes, releasing the stored energy," she explains.

These two movements – compression and expansion of the spring — are used to turn a generator that converts mechanical into electrical energy.

"The energy produced by the generator is then collected and used to power electrical appliances or stored in an energy storage system, such as a battery," Rachel points out.

Energy use case

With a population of 105 million, the energy needs of DRC are significant. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition, a programme under the aegis of the United Nations, reports that the Central African nation aims to achieve "universal access to clean, modern fuels" by 2030.

This almost perfectly aligns with Rachel's work.

Paradoxically, despite the enthusiasm, accolades, and even being featured on the front pages of local newspapers during the presentation of her system, Rachel says she has yet to receive any assistance in bridging the energy gap in her country.

But she hasn't given up believing in herself and her dreams, one of which is to bring light into fellow citizens' homes.

"I hope that this work will receive finance someday so that we can create a field of tiles that will produce energy through the footsteps of passers-by," says Rachel. "The use of energy tiles has fewer harmful effects on the environment. This makes it a clean source of energy, which is a workable alternative to the problem of nuclear waste management and greenhouse gas emissions."

To date, official figures put the number of people with access to electricity in DRC, the most populous in French-speaking Africa, at 10%. The country relies solely on fossil fuels and hydroelectric power for its energy supply. Biomass serves as an alternative energy source, especially in rural areas.

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