It started with unmanned aircrafts, then cars, and now there is a ship. The 36-foot long Maxilimer colorfully cruised its way through UK waters in its quest to be the first Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV), to cross the Atlantic.

The makers, SEA-KIT, a maritime company based in southeast London is looking for alternative to the expensive manned water vessels, that could significantly cut the cost of sea haulage. So came the birth of Maxilimer, with no need for a human function, a lot of ‘would be’ crew space is dedicated to equipment, increasing the efficiency of its robotic mechanism.

The journey started in 2016, when SEA-KIT collaborated with a UK ship builder to develop the aluminum for Maxilimer. A Norwegian firm provided the remote control tech so that it could heed the signals of GPs and be controlled from miles away using radio.

Cruising at eight miles per hour, Maxilimer can go on a nine months stretch unless it runs out of fuel. Its adaptability has enabled the flexibility in its functions, a mechanism that regular vessels lack. According to the managing director of SEA_KIT, Ben Simpson:

“It’s robust, it’s adaptable, it’s got a huge range.” The “no human crew” technique has created a big room inside that it can take 2 ½ tons of cargo. Another aspect of it that has caught the interest of clients is its cost, it’s cheap. Simpson said:

“SEA-KIT vessels use less than five percent of the fuel required to operate a standard ocean-going vessels.” And there is environmental benefit attached to its cheap operational cost. SEA-KIT’s chief operating officer, Neil Tinmouth, told the DailyBeast:

“This is the game changer when it comes to the carbon footprint and environmental impact of these operations.”

Maxilimer was launched in 2017, and for about 2 years was in the waters being tested. Its performance so far has been satisfying that it won the $7 million Shell ocean Discovery X-Prize, in May, for the best ocean-mapping technology.

The maritime world is keenly observing the progress of Maxilimer, the final test is to make it across the Atlantic. If it succeeds, it will kick off a tech precedent that will save companies a fortune, and the environment, pollution. The US Navy are already exploring technology to develop AI vessels, and oil companies are looking for cheap alternative to their high cost maritime operations.

And there is a need for machines to take human’s place in cleaning of oil spillage, to eliminate the harm from fume inhalation. The concern of regulators has been the efficiency of the Maxilimer. An instance of collision or any other sort of accident will mean disapproval by regulators.

So far, there has been no such record. The 2017 test-sail is set to be complete by 2020, and the success will mean duplication of the expertise and multiplication of the technology.

Building more schools is not the solution to our broken education system. A new classroom launched in any part of the world doesn’t add to the mission to get every kid educated.

In a way I’ll say it does. Or ideally it should.

But when we have a million classrooms scattered around the country and they really don’t know what they’re doing in school, can we say they’re been educated.

Or what’s the use of opening more schools when those being schooled only come out clueless and confused about the real world?

I was travelling from Abeokuta to Akure yesterday and on the bus I decided to reach out to someone (for the gospel and intellectual discussion).

There was this young boy beside me; he looked matured, so I started a conversation with him about the bus, the people and the journey.

After inquiring some things from him, I discovered he was in JSS 3. So after confirming if he was a Christian, I really wanted to know what runs through his mind.

I asked him what department he would join if he entered the senior school. At first, he said Arts and I had to inquire why he chose Arts. He paused for a few seconds not having any response then finally responded “I love arts”.

I pressed further to know if he could draw or do anything related to the arts department. Unfortunately he didn’t. To my surprise he immediately changed and said “I’d go for sciences”.

Well, immediately I got to know his response; I discovered that this young 16 years old boy has spent at least 14 years in school and he doesn’t know anything about the real world.

He hasn’t discovered himself. He doesn’t know what success is, he doesn’t know what contributing to the society is. Now, imagine there are thousands of youngsters just like him who joined sciences, arts, and commercial departments, not even knowing what they want to do.

They continue for another 3 years of clueless, and then get admitted into a university to continue another 5 years of an endless quest to find their true self, and know about the real world. Isn’t that why unemployment rate skyrockets every year.

I began to EDUCATE him. I first made him realize there’d be at least one thing in this present that a human can be inclined to.

AT LEAST ONE THING.

So I listed a lot of careers for him and explained, told him the department they fell into, what he needed and all. He wasn’t able to pick out what he loved. That’s a lighter part.

But I mean we send all these kids to learn A for Apple where some of them don’t know what an apple is and it’s not even in that environment.

We teach them X for Xylophone and they don’t know what it is. We all get excited when they can repeat all there word for word. That’s not education.

Quality education lies in the ability of an information passed down to someone to be able to make such a person relevant in society at any point in time. This should be the focus of the government, schools and private bodies.