Mapua students' cellphone for blind tops wireless tilt
A mobile phone developed for blind users earned a computer engineering team from the Mapua Institute of Technology the grand prize in a wireless engineering education program competition.
Mapúa bested some 140 entries to be the grand champion in the 8th Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) Innovation and Excellence Awards with its "Wearable Obstacle Detection System and Braille Cell Phone for the Blind."
“We didn't expect to win - but we hoped for it - since all other finalists also have great entries,” said team member Kristine Emy Matabang, who with Girly Perando and Janiena Roxanne Dirain, all graduating students, developed the device.
The mobile phone is a dual-purpose device that aims to help the blind that can detect obstacles within five meters and it serves as a cell phone with Braille keypad so the visually impaired can receive and answer text messages and calls.
SWEEP is an industry-academe partnership that seeks to raise the level of technology and engineering education in the country.
A group of electronics engineering (ECE) students from Mapúa, whose project is called the “The Fault Line Data Acquisition and Monitoring System,” also made it to the final 10.
Dirain, Matabang and Perando, with mentor Engr. Ayra Panganiban, received P500,000 in cash prize during the awarding ceremony on February 22 at the SMX Convention Center.
Grants were also given to the schools of the top three teams.
“We are very honored and proud to represent the school together with the group of Engineer [Joseph Bryan] Ibarra,” said Perando.
The three CpE students also thanked “everyone who took part on this journey especially to our Smart SWEEP mentor, Engr. Ayra Panganiban, and our design adviser Engr. Michael Pacis.”
“To the Mapúa community, thank you for believing in us and supporting us all throughout the competition,” they said.
Patent application
The group said they plan to file a patent application for their invention - and enhance the device.
“We will also enhance our device. For example, we are looking at making it wireless. Also, we want to make it more compact so that it can be more beneficial to the blind community,” said Dirain.
Dean Felicito Caluyo of the School of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering (EECE) was happy with the group’s “splendid performance” in the competition.
“As the Dean of the School of EECE, I am very proud that our entry, ‘Wearable Obstacle Detection System and Braille Cell Phone for the Blind,’ in the 8th Smart SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards garnered the highest award,” he said.
“I believe that the splendid performance of the team has not come as a surprise because they worked hard for it and the project itself is very interesting, innovative and with social relevance,” he added.
Caluyo said he has always encouraged his faculty members and students to engage in research activities to put into practice their knowledge and experience.
“This new achievement is a concrete evidence of Mapúa’s thrust towards Outcomes-Based Education, wherein the learners demonstrate what they are able to do with what they know,” he said.
This was the second time that Mapúa joined the annual competition, and the Mapúans have always made it to the top 10. — TJD, GMA News
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