For a Decade, a Young Sudanese Innovator Builds Robots from Electronic Scrap in a Makeshift Lab in Omdurman

In Sudan, the young Moatasem Jibril dropped out of engineering school due to lack of money, but did not give up on technology. About ten years ago, he started building robots with electronic scrap bought cheaply in markets, assembled in a corner of his family’s mud house in Omdurman. All self-taught.

From a small space inside his house, a young man transformed electronic waste into moving machines. In Sudan, Moatasem Jibril spent years assembling robots with electronic scrap scavenged from markets, proving that real engineering does not only depend on expensive laboratories. His journey was documented by the news agency Anadolu.

The starting point was academic frustration. Jibril was studying electronic engineering but had to leave university due to his family’s financial difficulties. Instead of giving up on his dream, he brought his learning home and became a self-taught inventor, passionate about technology.

His raw material is what many people throw away. Without money to buy new components, the young man bets on electronic scrap sold cheaply in the markets of Omdurman, a city west of the capital, Khartoum. Next, see how this homemade laboratory works and why the story attracts so much attention.

Who is Moatasem Jibril, the young man who makes robots from scrap

The protagonist of the story is a young ordinary person with an extraordinary talent. Moatasem Jibril lives in Omdurman, Sudan, and became known for building robots at home using discarded parts. His journey was documented by media outlets in March 2023.

The interest in technology has been longstanding. According to Anadolu, Jibril started assembling robots about nine years ago, amounting to almost a decade of dedication to the subject. What began as curiosity turned into a daily routine of study, testing, and assembly, always with reused materials.

The foundation of everything is self-education. After leaving college, Jibril had no teachers or sophisticated laboratories and learned through practice, on his own. Each robot assembled with scrap is the result of trial, error, and extensive research conducted by himself.

An honest note about the time is warranted. The reports that portrayed Jibril’s work are from 2023, and this text recounts his journey up to that point. Without more recent confirmed information, it is not possible to state how the project continued afterward, so the focus here is on the achievement built over the years.

Cases like his are part of a larger movement. Around the world, the maker culture is growing, with people learning to build and repair on their own, often outside of university. In Sudan, without infrastructure, Moatasem Jibril became an example of this hands-on engineering.

The improvised laboratory in a corner of the mud house

The workspace is far from what one imagines for an inventor. Jibril assembles his robots in a narrow room inside the family house, a simple mud construction in Omdurman. It is there, in a few square meters, that technology takes shape.

The modesty of the place contrasts with the ambition of the project. Without industrial benches or expensive equipment, the young man transformed a corner of the house into a workshop, laboratory, and parts depot all at once. Everything is organized around the goal of making a machine work.

This improvisation says a lot about his method. Working with what is at hand, in a tight space, forces creativity and the ability to make the most of each component. It is an engineering of necessity, made to fit what reality allows.

Even so, the result impresses with the effort. Maintaining a robot project for so many years, without structure, requires above-average discipline and organization. The mud laboratory became the symbol of a dedication that did not depend on resources, but on will and method.

Improvising space is common among inventors worldwide. From large technology companies that started in garages to school projects assembled in the kitchen, history shows that good ideas do not always need a building. Jibril’s mud room enters this tradition of creating wherever possible.

Electronic scrap scavenged in the markets of Omdurman

The secret to the low cost lies in the origin of the parts. Since new electronic components are too expensive for his budget, Jibril turns to low-priced electronic scrap sold in local markets. It is there that he scavenges for discarded boards, motors, wires, and sensors.

This scavenging requires a trained eye. Amid piles of old and broken devices, the young man needs to identify what still works, what can be recovered, and what fits his projects. Turning electronic waste into useful parts is, in itself, quite a skill.

To fund this search, he also works. According to reports, Jibril works in the market to gather the necessary money to buy the materials he needs. In other words, the same place that provides the scrap is what gives him the income to continue with the robots.

This cycle gives the project a sustainable logic. Reusing electronic scrap reduces costs, prevents the material from becoming waste, and still feeds the creation of technology. Unknowingly, Jibril practices a kind of homemade circular economy, giving new life to what would be discarded.

The scrap markets are a universe of their own. In them, broken devices change hands, parts are separated and resold, and those who understand the subject find true treasures. For the Sudanese youth, this popular trade functions as an improvised electronics store, only much cheaper.

From engineering student to self-taught inventor

Leaving university could have ended the dream, but it did the opposite. Unable to complete his engineering course due to lack of resources, Jibril decided to continue learning on his own. Formal education gave way to a practical school, set up at home.

This type of journey has its own merits. Learning technology without a teacher, only through research and experimentation, develops a deep understanding of how things work. Each robot assembled teaches something new about electronics, mechanics, and programming.

The case also exposes a real barrier. Many talented people fall by the wayside due to lack of money to study, losing access to technical education. Jibril’s story shows what is lost when education does not reach everyone, and what is gained when someone insists nonetheless.

More than individual overcoming, the central point is knowledge. The young man proved, in practice, that it is possible to master advanced technology concepts with study and persistence. The diploma was left behind, but the competence was built piece by piece.

It is worth emphasizing that this is not an isolated case in Sudan. The country faces years of economic instability, which weighs on students and access to technology. In this context, learning to make robots with scrap also becomes a way to circumvent the lack of opportunities.

What makes e-waste a source of parts

To understand the achievement, one must look at electronic waste. Discarded devices, such as cell phones, computers, and televisions, are true treasure chests of components that still work or can be recovered. For those who know how to scavenge, scrap becomes a stock of cheap parts.

Inside an old device, there is a lot of usable technology. Circuit boards, small motors, sensors, batteries, wires, and connectors can be removed and reused in new projects. It’s like dismantling a puzzle and using the pieces to assemble a different one.

This reuse has a value that goes beyond the pocket. Electronic waste is one of the fastest-growing in the world and one of the most difficult to handle, full of toxic materials and valuable metals. Giving utility to this scrap helps reduce waste and pollution.

For this reason, Jibril’s work has an environmental layer. By building robots with components that would go to waste, he practically demonstrates how e-waste can become a resource. It’s a lesson in engineering and sustainability at the same time, born out of necessity.

Within electronic waste, there are even precious metals. Boards and connectors contain small amounts of gold, silver, and copper, as well as components that are expensive when new. That’s why electronic scrap is sought after, both by recyclers and by inventors like the young man from Omdurman.

Driven by inventor movies

The initial spark for the project came from the screens. According to Anadolu, Jibril began to take an interest in robots after watching many movies about inventors and machines. Fiction sparked in him the desire to create something real.

This inspiration says a lot about the power of references. Seeing stories of people who build and invent can plant the idea in someone that they are also capable of doing the same. In the case of the young Sudanese, cinema became the first push towards technology.

From inspiration to practice, however, it was a long journey. Turning admiration for movie robots into real machines required years of study and work with scrap. The initial dream only held up because it was accompanied by daily effort and a lot of persistence.

It is this combination that makes the case remarkable. An idea born from movies, fueled by market parts, and built in a mud room resulted in a project that lasted almost a decade. Few dreams endure so long with so few resources.

This detail reinforces the role of scientific dissemination. Movies, videos, and stories of inventors can awaken vocations and show paths, especially for young people without access to laboratories. In the case of Sudan, a screen was enough to ignite interest in technology and robots.

Africa and the ingenuity of turning waste into machines

The case of Sudan is not isolated on the continent. Across Africa, it is common to find young people who create technology from scrap, due to the lack of access to new components and laboratories. Creativity partially compensates for the lack of infrastructure.

This type of ingenuity has practical roots. Where resources are scarce, learning to repair, adapt, and reuse becomes an essential daily skill. Turning electronic waste into something useful is a natural extension of this culture of doing much with little.

There is also a global backdrop to this story. Much of the world’s electronic waste ends up in poorer countries, causing environmental problems but also inadvertently providing a stock of parts for local inventors. It’s a contradiction that cases like Jibril’s lay bare.

What is often missing is support. Talents like that of the young man from Omdurman usually need investment, training, and opportunities to grow, something not always available. Recognizing these stories is a first step to ensure they are not lost.

There is no shortage of examples across the continent. From young people who build generators and radios with salvaged parts to technology hubs that recycle e-waste, Africa shows how scarcity can become a driver of creativity. The scrap robots from Sudan fit into this same logic of inventing with what exists.

The volume of e-waste grows every year worldwide, driven by the increasingly rapid exchange of cell phones and computers. Much of this material ends up in landfills or informal dumps, where scrap is often separated without safety. Utilizing it with technique, as the young Sudanese does, is a much smarter solution.

What this has to do with Brazil

Brazil also produces mountains of electronic waste. The country is among the largest generators of e-waste in the world, with millions of devices discarded every year, much of it without proper recycling. This scrap is both a problem and an opportunity.

The Brazilian numbers help to dimension the scenario. The country generates more than 2 million tons of electronic waste per year, according to industry surveys, and recycles only a fraction of it. Much of this scrap could fuel technology projects in schools and communities, instead of becoming pollution.

Here, too, there are inventors born out of necessity. In the outskirts and interior cities, young people create technology projects with reused material, often without access to good laboratories. The story of Sudan echoes the reality of many Brazilian talents.

The case reinforces the importance of technical education. Just as Jibril was hindered by lack of money, many Brazilian students face difficulties completing courses and developing their ideas. Investing in education and creation spaces, the so-called maker labs, can reveal new inventors.

There are already promising signs here. Robotics clubs and maker labs in public schools show how technology can reach those who have little. With scrap, low-cost boards, and creativity, Brazilian students build robots and projects, in a path that brings technical education closer to the reality of cases like that of Sudan.

Finally, there is the lesson on reuse. Transforming electronic scrap into robots and useful projects is a path that combines innovation, economy, and care for the environment. For a country full of e-waste and creative people like Brazil, it is an idea that makes perfect sense.

And you, have you ever imagined building a robot with electronic waste parts?

The story of Moatasem Jibril shows what curiosity and persistence can do with very few resources. Without completing engineering, the young man from Sudan spent about ten years building robots with electronic scrap scavenged from markets, inside a mud room, proving that technology can be born in the most unlikely places.

And you, have you thought about how much usable technology exists inside an old cell phone or computer? Share in the comments what you think of the Sudanese inventor’s journey and if you believe that projects with electronic scrap could gain more space in schools and outskirts of Brazil.

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