University of Johannesburg Students Wins Global Award -

University of Johannesburg Young Scientists

The University of Johannesburg, UJ, Women in Tech team has won the first place globally in the 2026 AAKRUTI Design Competition in Houston, USA, for their unique foot-operated breast pump, becoming the first all-female team to claim the title in the competition’s history.

The UJ students presenting ‘Latch’, demonstrating how the pump can be operated via a foot pedal or a manual pump, and showcasing its simple, efficient design.

Graphic Design student Courtney Hodgson said “We are looking to develop a product that is really nurturing women on a homegrown level. Those moms in rural areas who don’t have access to electricity – how can we give them the comfort of having an amazing product that helps them breastfeed without all of these nuanced factors that are already developed for mommies that are more privileged?”

Latch is a highly manual and adaptable pump, which can connect to any standard bottle available to the mother after proper sanitisation.

“There’s just ongoing problems where, if there is a life and death reliance on a product, the core function of that product can’t rely on the infrastructure of the electrical grid,” explained Martin Bolton, head of the industrial design department at UJ.

“That’s where the need for the development of new solutions to be less reliant on the grid is,” he continued.

The team emphasised that their innovation also extends its impact to healthcare clinics in underserved communities.

Lerato Matobako, Graphic Design Multimedia Representative, stated the value addition of the research.

“In clinics, this would help, and also in daily households, because a lot of mothers can’t afford electric brace product… So this cost-effective solution that will make it inclusive for people from rural areas and also underserved and underprivileged communities.”

Field Testing

The team is now preparing for field testing, the next step being the distribution of prototypes to mothers and healthcare workers for feedback, with the aim of improving the suction mechanism technically before moving to large-scale manufacturing.