FUTO Mechatronics Students Win 2026 Entrepreneurship Week Pitch Competition

A team of Mechatronics Engineering students of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) has emerged winner of the 2026 Entrepreneurship Week Business Pitch Competition, defeating teams from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and other universities across the South-East and South-South.

The FUTO team, which operates under the name ‘GridSense’ won the competition with a low-cost, modular smart energy audit and protection system designed to help businesses monitor electricity consumption, identify energy wastage, and protect electrical appliances from overload.

GridSense was founded by Angel Chinemerem Ezeahurukwe, Team Lead/CEO, alongside co-founders Ugbah Awele, Amaefule Praise and Amobi Bright. The system monitors electricity consumption at individual appliance level through a live dashboard and can automatically disconnect an appliance when an overload is detected. This allows affected equipment to be protected without shutting down power to an entire facility.

The team had earlier secured first place at the DevEast 2026 Business Pitch Competition, where it won the ₦1 million top prize. At the Entrepreneurship Week competition, the team's presentation was supported by a live demonstration of GridSense detecting an electrical overload and isolating the affected appliance. The demonstration also showcased its smart presence-detection feature, which automatically switches off lights in unoccupied rooms.

The consistent pitch competition successes provide further recognition for the practical engineering and entrepreneurial work of FUTO students and their efforts to develop technology-based responses to everyday challenges.

The University community congratulates the GridSense team on the achievement and encourages continued development of the innovation towards wider application and impact.