They say necessity is the mother of invention. That certainly holds true for this teenage inventor from Bedford.
Joy Akinkunmi, Shad2025 saw a problem and built something to fix it: the Pill Smart, an automatic medication dispenser for people with dementia. It’s been a hit at science fairs across the country and internationally, too.
She might be onto something.
‘An obvious thing’
In the height of the pandemic, a family member was diagnosed with lewy body dementia and Akinkunmi, who was in Grade 9 at the time, became a regular caregiver.
“And so that meant doing things for her, such as giving her food, helping her get ready in the morning, things like that, and I noticed her really struggling with simple tasks. They became overwhelming for her, and so one of those things was taking medication.”
With multiple family members stepping in, it was a chore to make sure she had taken the right medications throughout the day.
“It would always be like, ‘Have you given her medication yet?’ Like, that was the most common phrase in her house at that point.”
Then an email from Dalhousie University’s Imhotep’s Legacy Academy landed in her inbox: They were looking for entries for their Young Gifted and Black Science Fair.
“It was around the same time I was giving my family member medication with her dinner and so it kind of felt like just an obvious thing, because I always had this, like, wish in my head that I wish there was a way to make it easier to give her medication.”
She started with a sketch of a device that would automatically deliver medications throughout the day. She has developed several prototypes, learning how to code along the way, leaning on YouTube videos and mentorship through the non-profit Imhotep’s Legacy Academy.