Eniola Shokunbi was in fifth grade when she read about air filtration and decided her school needed it. She wrote to Marina Creed, director of the University of Connecticut's Indoor Air Quality Initiative, asking for the plans so she and her classmates could build their own filter. Creed sent them. Then she brought scientists to Eniola's classroom, where students learned about air pollution and climate change and built the filters themselves.
The device is a Corsi-Rosenthal box filter. It costs about $60 and is built from a box fan, four furnace filters, duct tape and cardboard, according to the American Lung Association. It is designed to improve indoor air quality by filtering airborne particles. The Environmental Protection Agency and UConn tested the DIY purifier in an EPA bioaerosol test chamber. UConn reported the device removed more than 99 per cent of airborne viruses, including the virus that causes COVID-19, within 60 minutes under test conditions.
The project attracted wider attention. In October 2024, Connecticut's State Bond Commission approved $11.5 million in state support for UConn's Indoor Air Quality Initiative to purchase materials and oversee the construction and installation of the low-cost filters in public-school classrooms across the state. The funding is not money given to Eniola personally. It supports the statewide school air-filtration programme inspired in part by the work she helped champion.
Eniola is now 12. She is a Nigerian-American student at Commodore MacDonough STEM Academy in Middletown, Connecticut. On her official website, she says she played a central role in securing the grant and is working with UConn scientists on the project. She has continued advocating for cleaner air in schools and plans to visit other schools to teach students how to build their own filters. She hopes the idea can eventually reach classrooms across the United States and around the world.
For Eniola, the project is also about showing young people that they can solve problems around them. "I believe it's really important help people understand the importance of clean air and show them how easy it is to make an impact," she said, according to the American Lung Association.
The story of a sixth-grader securing state funding for a public health programme has drawn international attention. The simplicity of the device is part of what makes it notable. A box fan and four furnace filters, taped together, can be assembled by schoolchildren. The materials are common. The cost is low. The testing, done under controlled conditions, showed the filters could remove nearly all airborne viruses within an hour.
Connecticut's decision to fund the programme statewide came after the successful classroom testing and the involvement of UConn's Indoor Air Quality Initiative. The state bond commission's approval in October 2024 committed $11.5 million to purchase materials and oversee the construction and installation of the filters in public-school classrooms across the state.
Eniola's ambitions extend beyond air filtration. She has said she wants to become the first Black woman president of the United States. For now, she is focused on getting cleaner air into classrooms and encouraging other children to use science to solve problems in their communities. She is working with UConn scientists on the project and plans to visit other schools to teach students how to build their own filters. She hopes the idea will spread across the US and beyond.
According to Pulse.ng.
