-says every youth should have a chance to be part of STEM

PEOPLE oftentimes say that Guyana is light-years away from becoming technologically inclined like the rest of the world, yet there are Guyanese youth, like 28-year-old Kevin Fraser, who are playing a major role in inventing gadgets that are currently being used by developed countries.

Growing up in the community of Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD), Kevin Fraser always had a knack for fixing things.
“As a child, I loved to break open things to see why they worked and then had to try my best to fix them before anyone found out… cause is lix in yuh tail if you’re just breaking people’s stuff,” said Fraser, in an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine.

While his passion was to invent things, he still took his academia seriously while studying at the St. Margaret’s Primary School and later the North Georgetown Secondary School.
His stint in secondary school locally was short since at the age of 13, he moved to London, England with his family.
Although he missed home, he still kept his passion close to him and today after completing his studies, he is a successful Electronic Engineer who (professionally) breaks stuff and fixes them back or even invents new things but on a larger and more serious scale.

Fraser is basically living his dream by aiding in the invention of new music-making devices for the digital age.
He works for a growing British technology company called ROLI Ltd. ROLI comprises a team of people from many disciplines who are creating new music-making devices for the digital age.

Their products connect with others in the ecosystem because they want music creation to be as conveniently seamless as other digitised areas of life. By inventing new, connected tools they are extending the joy of music-making to everyone.

And Fraser is proudly a part of that process. In addition to his passion for inventing, he also said he has a vested interest in music, technology and cameras. At ROLI he helps to design, assemble, test and debug innovative products created by the company.

“I want to make technology attractive and accessible to more people… and to make persons aware that they do not have to be academically gifted to innovate and invent,” Fraser said, adding that he wants to inspire people, particularly Guyanese, to invent and innovate their ideas while having fun by learning and solving problems.

Being a son of the soil, he believes that Guyana is a really great place but it would be good to equip the people with the education and skills that are related to the country in areas that are needed. This way, he thinks that people would make a living by doing things they love while improving the country.

Fraser referred to an example of the recent overtopping of the seawall on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD). The electronic engineer suggested that technology could help Guyanese know where flooding is most likely to occur by possibly having buoys that track the level of water and by having sensors on and around kokers to test what force of water it could withstand.

His theory is that those solutions would help in knowing if the koker should be opened during high tides or left closed and risk the whole dam collapsing. He encouraged the Government and officials to study in Amsterdam and other developed countries that are under sea level.

Fraser’s ideas for development locally were endless and also included the importance of youths in the advancement of the country.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is one of the drivers of technological advancement and he commended the local STEM movement for the work they have been doing.

“I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to get involved with something like that, not just the academically gifted folks…If I had the chance I would actually open a printed circuit board company in Guyana and train and teach locals. Every tech project that Guyana produces, we would manufacture everything in Guyana, from the circuit boards to the aluminum cases that would house the products,” said the ambitious Fraser, who noted that he would definitely try to give every child a chance at a STEM project.

For youth who are interested in being a part of STEM education and projects, he encouraged them to “do, do, do” because no matter what it is, the more you do the more you learn and get better at whatever it is.

Realistically people often overthink things so he implored them to find something they like and take the necessary steps to self-educate themselves.
He echoed the sentiments of Henry David Thoreau which read: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”