USEP-developed applications enter Sweep finals

TWO entries submitted by the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) in Davao City are among the 10 finalists in this year's Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (Sweep) Innovation and Excellence Awards.

Wordify: A Selected Language Translator Using Digital Image Processing and Doc. Banana: A Digital Image Processing Approach for Early Banana Diseases Detection, both from Usep are among the 10 student-developed mobile applications (apps) to compete for the top honors during the final judging on February 14.

Another entry from Mindanao, the Fly Smart, developed by students of the Notre Dame of Marbel University in Koronadal, South Cotabato is also in the running.

The 10 student-developed mobile applications bested more than a hundred entries to compete for the top honors.

On February 14, leading wireless services provider Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) will be revealing the three best apps that have the potential to improve lives in communities and contribute in nation-building.

The Sweep Awards ceremonies will be held at the Dusit Thani Manila hotel in Makati City, and will be attended by the students who developed the ten projects that entered the final phase, together with their teacher-
mentors.

The winning school team will receive P500,000, while the second and third placers will receive P200,000 and P100,000 respectively. The winning team's respective schools will also receive grants equivalent to their cash prizes.

Also vying for this year's awards are student teams from De La Salle-Lipa that entered the top 10 with two entries: Automatic Detection of Traffic Density and Systematic Market Application for Real-time Trading (Smart) and Ateneo De Manila University, which also won two slots with LowCal and Botica on-the-Go applications.

Also in the competition are teams from Tarlac State University, which developed Smart H.E.A.D. (Helmet Engineered for Accidents and Disasters); Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba with their Arduino-based Switching Device for Electrical Appliances using Multiple Wireless Communication via Android mobile phone; and Bulacan State University competing with its Early Detection of Leptospira Bacteria through Matlab app.

The 10 teams involved in the shortlisted projects will do their final presentation and defense before a panel of industry experts, also on February 14, before the awarding ceremonies.

In October last year, Smart organized its first-ever student boot-camp cum mentoring session for the finalists, designed to provide the teams the opportunity to fine-tune their entries before the production of their respective prototypes.

Now on its ninth year, the Sweep Innovation and Excellence Awards continues to bring out the best in young people, challenging students to put their knowledge to good use by developing wireless applications to address real problems in their communities.

With this year's theme of "Technology in Nation-building," the awards program aims to develop applied wireless solutions that would enhance and develop the capacity of people to improve their lives.

Criteria used in arriving at the best 10 applications include being innovative, community-based, sustainable, and having technology-focus in areas of health, education, livelihood, environment, disaster preparedness and response, media, power and energy, transportation, communications and agriculture.

Some of the past winners and finalists of the Sweep Awards are the Braille Cellphone with Obstacle Detector from Mapua Institute of Technology, Time Free (mobile queuing system) from Ateneo de Zamboanga University, and Pasagoods donating platform from Ateneo de Manila University.

These three projects will soon test the market as technology startups with the help of IdeaSpace Foundation.

IdeaSpace is the non-profit incubator arm supported by MPIC companies including PLDT and Smart that aims to help budding technology entrepreneurs develop groundbreaking solutions and transform these into successful commercial products.