By Jerome Auza
What would you say when you are on stage with US President Barack Obama and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma in front of the leaders of 21 nations and global corporations?
Engineer Aisa Mijeno of SALt.PH had this opportunity on November 18, 2015 during the APEC Summit in Manila. SALt.PH is a Philippine startup company that developed a lamp that generates power using salt water as the electrolyte for the lamp’s galvanic cells. She was invited by the White House to be at the APEC panel moderated by Obama himself.
Obama played matchmaker for Mijeno and Ma. Mijeno’s company has been looking for financial support for the mass production of the SALt lamps while Ma has signified its support for small companies.
SALt is a recipient of numerous local and international awards. Mijeno’s appearance at the APEC Summit on November 18, 2015 was the latest and perhaps the most high profile international exposure for her company. His brother Raphael Mijeno is the co-founder of SALt.
The company is one of the startups supported by Ideaspace Philippines and since their completion of the startup program at Ideaspace, they have reaped several awards. They have been featured in numerous online magazines and newspapers as well as on TV.
The concept of using saline solution as electrolyte in a galvanic cell is not new. The galvanic cell is the basis for most of the batteries we use. However, SALt’s innovation is that they have made the lamp easy to use and maintain. Its electronics drive LED bulbs to produce light. It can also charge mobile devices through its built-in USB port.
They have designed it such that it can be mass produced and sold at a price that is affordable. The target market are communities that do not have electricity.
A glass of water and 2 tablespoons of salt can produce light for 8 hours. Sea water may be used also. A properly maintained SALt lamp will need a replacement of its metal plates every six months in order to continue producing light.
The inspiration to develop the lamp came to Mijeno when she was working with a community up in the mountains of Kalinga. The tribes have to go to the town a few times a week to get kerosene to be used as fuel for their lamps. Not only was this very inconvenient and expensive for them, the kerosine lamps are also fire hazards.
U.S. President Barack Obama (center), poses for a photograph with Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma and Aisa Mijeno, an engineer and social worker, at the APEC CEO Summit in Manila on Nov. 18, 2015.
Photographer: Seong Joon Cho/Bloomberg
Caption from Bloomberg.com