Students Present ‘Challenge Lab’ Projects

December 15, 2015 Challenge Lab (IEOR 185) is a project of the Sutardja Center of Entrepreneurship & Technology and uses a competition-based format to teach students how to be entrepreneurs by working in interdisciplinary teams to develop a product. The competition categories this year included ‘Internet of Things’ — an emerging category of connected products that typically focus on solving one issue (e.g. a FitBit) — and ‘Smart Cities India’ — a special project devoted to studying innovative design, layout, and technologies used to create a more effective city.

‘Internet of Things’ category

An egg that monitors fertility and texts your partner ‘hint, hint’ when the time is right, a professional blazer that uses sensors and heating elements to regulate body temperature, a glove that measures rhythm while playing the piano to help students learn — these are just a few of the gadgets invented by students and presented this week for Challenge Lab in the ‘internet of things’ category.

This year’s presentations included:Damara – 1st place winner

Delayed child birth, high-cost fertility treatments and other factors can make getting pregnant challenging for many couples. Damara is an egg-shaped assistant that helps women monitor their fertility and ovulation. All the data is stored in a cloud service. When fertility levels are optimal, it texts “hint, hint” to the woman’s partner to let them know that the time is right.

Surge – 2nd place winner

The team from SurgeAre you a doctor wondering if your patient picked up their prescription? A hospital administrator wanting to check current medical supply stock? Surge is a hospital inventory management system for tracking prescriptions, supplies and other materials in one central database.

Duraband – 3rd place winner

Duraband – Smart Solutions for a Safer WorldAccidents on construction sites cost developers and insurance companies billions of dollars per year. Duraband is a wristband that helps keep construction workers safe by monitoring body temperature, heart rate, and other indicators that can notify foremen when a worker may be at risk for injury.

Nexu

Team Nexu showcasing product featuresBy 2050 the 65 and older population will grow from 524 million to 1.5 billion people. Nexu is a smartwatch platform that is specifically tailored to help the elderly monitor health and get help quickly when needed.

Spor

Team SporWasting food is a big issue — it is estimated that 30%-50% of food brought home from the grocery store is never eaten, costing families approximately $2,275 annually. Spor is a system that allows the user to keep track of food inventories by scanning receipts and even uses sensors to track ethylene to sense when fruits and vegetables need to be thrown out.

G. Caldo

Thinking about checking the weather before heading to work? Don’t bother! The G. Caldo blazer senses outside temperature and body temperature to control heating elements hidden in the jacket to keep you just the right temp. all day long.

Bloom

Bloom is a platform for developers in the “internet of things” marketLinkedIn, GitHub, YouTube, Sketchfab — these are all platforms where creators can showcase their skills. Bloom aims to be a similar platforms where IoT creators can show off their skills, be seen, and get connected to job opportunities.

Couplit

Team CouplitRemember promise rings? Well, don’t be surprised if teens in the future wear ‘smart’ versions of these classic symbols of love and commitment. Couplit is a wristband that just you and your partner wear — and on it you will receive personalized messages that only you and your partner can see.