made in nigeria gas pressing iron

The ‘Nepaless Iron’ is actually
called the ‘Iron Rhino’ and is
the innovative brain child of a
Nigerian Engineer, Ayokunle
Adeniran. A graduate of
Covenant University, ‘Sean’ as
he is fondly called by his
friends, works as a mechanical
design engineer in the United
States, and has found a way
around having to wait for the
‘NEPA’ before getting nicely
pressed outfits.
The Iron Rhino is a gas
powered device which is
portable and easy to use.
BellaNaija, in a chat with
Ayokunle, finds out about te
inspiration behind the
invention, and how soon we
should expect to see the
product on our shelves.
*** now hear what he said
Please tell us about yourself
As a kid I spent most of my
growing up years in Ekiti and
Ondo states. Later on during
my teenage years, I moved to
Lagos where I attended
secondary school. I love to
play soccer, video games and
hangout with friends. My
favorite games are Fifa, Call
of duty and ping pong on
Nintendo Wii. I love social
networking, most times I’m
on instagram liking posts and
drawing positive inspirations
where possible. In 2004, I
gained admission to studied
Mechanical Engineering at
Covenant University, I
graduated in 2009. All
through my childhood days, I
was always passionate about
engineering and creativity, I
made my own toys from
materials around the house. I
remember the period after
completion of my secondary
school, I started making toy
cars which I sold to kids in
my neighborhood.
What do you do?
Presently, I’m a Mechanical
design engineer in United
states. I’m experienced in
design of elevator
components and recently
moved towards consumer
products.
Can you describe an average
day in your life?
An average day in my life
consists of me waking up at
6:45am, doing my morning
essentials and heading to
work by 7:45am. I work from
8:00am to 4:30pm and head
back home, then I pick up
personal projects from
5:30pm till 8:30pm. After
that, I watch T.V. shows
which I mostly sleep off on
while watching.
Tell us about the Iron Rhino
The Iron Rhino is a product I
designed in response to the
inability of people to iron their
clothes due to electrical
power outages. It is a butane
gas powered pressing iron,
meaning it does not require
electricity to function. It looks
very similar to and functions
like existing electric irons.
The butane comes in
canisters that retail for about
N120 and can last for 1 week
usage at 20 minutes daily
ironing.
What inspired you to create
the Iron Rhino?
My inspiration came from
disappointment. One day, I
needed to meet up with my
dad at the airport, and the
clothing I wanted to wear was
rumpled, I was unhappy and
had to wear something else.
This disappointment brought
about the spark of creativity
in my head so I decided to
proceed with the idea of
having an alternative source
of powering clothes iron
How long did it take for you
to complete the first
prototype?
It took about 2 years to
complete the first prototype
during which the patent had
to be filed and the processing
took about 4 years.
How user friendly would you
say the Iron Rhino is?
Rhino is very user friendly
because the design was built
around user ergonomics,
while safety was not
compromised. The iron
functions at most habitable
environmental conditions
making it very reliable.
The Iron Rhino is going to be
powered by little gas
canisters. Can you tell us
about the accessibility of
these canisters to the
consumer?
The canisters presently are
being manufactured by a
Chinese company, but
provisions are being made to
have them produced locally
by a Nigerian company. The
projected production rate is
calculated to serve all
functioning irons abundantly,
also a recycling process of
the canisters will mean users
can get discounts on recycled
canisters.
Are the canisters going to be
locally produced?
Yes, eventually in future.
What would you say is your
biggest challenge as an
inventor
My biggest challenge as an
inventor is funding of projects
as we all know research and
development process is often
very expensive.
Do you have an idea of how
much each Iron Rhino will
retail at?
With the present low volume
production rate, it is projected
to retail for N5,000 per piece,
but in future with higher
production rate, prices will
drop based on economies of
scale.
What’s the most exciting part
of this project so far?
The most exciting part of this
project is the reception it got
from people. I’d like to
appreciate all those who
shared the posts and created
awareness of it.
So what is the next step for
the Iron Rhino now?
The next step is fund raising
through rsvp.com.ng for #
IronRhino mass production.
With mass production, the
retail prices will be lower and
will be affordable for most
people.
source: African leadership