Eniola Shokunbi, a U.S.-based 12-year-old Nigerian girl has secured over $11 million grant for designing an air filter capable of preventing airborne diseases like COVID-19 for schools in Connecticut.

Ms Shokunbi and her classmates collaborated with scientists at the University of Connecticut to develop the filter using four furnace filters, a box fan, duct tape and cardboard that cost $60 for a single unit, which was significantly low compared to air purifiers in the U.S.

The 12-year-old innovator is a student of Commodore MacDonough STEM Academy in Middletown.

Ms Shokunbi’s air filtering project impressed the Connecticut State Bond Commission, which greenlit $11.5 million in a grant last October after regulators ranked the filtering system to be 99 per cent effective in purifying the air against airborne diseases.

“The air goes through all the sides,” NBC Connecticut cited Ms Shokunbi as saying. “And it comes out of the top, so it filters in and out.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said tests carried out to assess the efficacy of the filters showed that they were 99 per cent effective, inspiring confidence in the Connecticut State Bond to give Ms Shokunbi millions of dollars to design the air filtering system on a larger scale to ensure that each school in the state had access to purified air.

“A lot of people, they don’t realise sometimes that the only thing standing between them and getting sick is science,” Ms Shokunbi said. “If we’re not investing in that, then we’re not investing in the kids.”

“I want them to go to school knowing that they’re safe, that they’re healthy, that they can learn,” Ms Shokunbi said. “I really love explaining to people and seeing their faces, seeing them realise that this could change so many lives.”