Nigerian-American Girl’s Air Filter Innovation Secures $11.5M Funding for U.S. Schools

Twelve-year-old Nigerian-American Eniola Sokunbi’s low-cost air filter invention, designed to reduce airborne disease spread in schools, has received $11.5 million in funding from Connecticut to expand its use in classrooms statewide.

Twelve-year-old Nigerian-American, Eniola Sokunbi, has gained national attention in the U.S. for inventing a low-cost air filter aimed at reducing the spread of airborne diseases in schools, which recently received $11.5 million in funding from Connecticut’s State Bond Commission.

Eniola, a fifth-grader at Commodore MacDonough STEM Academy in Middletown, Connecticut, developed the air filter as a school project focused on enhancing classroom safety in response to future pandemic threats. Her design, which costs only $60 to produce, uses simple materials including a box fan, furnace filters, duct tape, and cardboard, making it an affordable alternative to commercial air purifiers.

With testing assistance from University of Connecticut (UConn) scientists, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed the device’s efficiency, showing it removes over 99% of airborne viruses. This led to a major funding boost through UConn’s SAFE-CT program, aiming to place these filters in every Connecticut public school classroom.

Eniola’s vision extends beyond Connecticut, as she hopes her invention can be adopted in classrooms nationwide, emphasizing the role of scientific innovation in protecting children’s health: “A lot of people don’t realize that the only thing standing between them and getting sick is science,” she said.

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SOURCES: ALLSCHOOL, SCHOLARSHIP REGION