An all-female team from the University of Johannesburg has won an international innovation award for designing a non-electric breast pump that will make a real difference for new moms in low-resource communities!
Johannesburg, South Africa (06 February 2026) – A group of honours students from the University of Johannesburg has just taken home the top prize at an international innovation competition.
The team, known as UJ Wom+n in Tech, has become the first all-woman team to win the AAKRUTI Global Design Competition with their design, Latch.
Latch helps mothers in rural and low-resource communities express breast milk without the use of electricity. The pedal-powered design is accessible and user-friendly, and it cuts the high costs usually associated with breastfeeding tools.
Behind the project are four students from different creative disciplines: Rethabile Mosia (Industrial Design), Tyesha Billett (Graphic Design), Lerato Matobako (Multimedia) and Courtney Hodgson (Graphic Design).
The pump is powered by a simple foot pedal. It works with any standard bottle or reusable container, meaning moms don’t need special proprietary bottles. The design also cuts down on plastic waste, making it both affordable and environmentally conscious.
The idea came from imagining real scenarios that many women in rural communities and townships deal with all the time.
“Imagine being a new mother in a township in South Africa or a rural village in India,” the team explains. “Your baby won’t latch, you only have a glass jar, and the electricity cuts out again. That’s the reality Latch was designed to change.”
Their concept impressed judges at the competition, which is powered by Dassault Systèmes and SOLIDWORKS and challenges students from around the world to develop human-centred, socially useful solutions.
Two members of the team travelled to Texas for the international finals, where they presented Latch on the international stage and ultimately secured first place!
The team is already working towards launching Latch as a product within the next year, with plans to partner with NGOs and NPOs that support mothers in rural and underserved communities.
The focus will be on local manufacturing, accessible pricing, and scalable production, all aimed at getting the pump into the hands of women who need it most.
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