3 NTU Student Teams made it to the global Top 8 at the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2023 World Finals

From left: Team AlbaCare, Team deStigma and Team naVIgaSION.  Photo credit: Mr Azhar Abdul Salam, EEE. 

Imagine Cup is an international competition that encourages students to develop innovative solutions to tackle a local or global issue in one of the four categories:

• Earth
• Education
• Health
• Lifestyle
  

Students participating in the competition are required to demonstrate their concepts based on their utilisation of technology, business concept and commercial viability.

With the rapidly ageing population worldwide, it is noticeable that more elderly are now living alone. Statistics have shown that older people living alone tend to have a hazard rate higher than those who are not. As an attempt to tackle this pressing issue, team AlbaCare has developed a sensor-based ‘aging in place’ system which is designed for all families with an elderly relative living alone. Albacare uses deep learning based sensor allocation to detect behavior and provide a weekly health report on any concerning activity that could be detrimental to the elderly’s health. 

For their idea of a sensor-based system designed to help families keep an eye on elderly who are living alone, NTU students Guo Chenjun (IEM), Luo Wenyu (DSAI, Year 4) and Wei Yao (DSAI, Year 4) from Team AlbaCare were named the Asia winner in the Lifestyle Category in Asia regional final held on 28 March. The team mentor is Dr Shen Zhiqi from SCSE.

The other two teams in the Top 8 were: Team deStigma, comprising Frederik Hanson (EEE), Hardik Madan (EEE), Lai Fu Jun (IEM), and Melise Poon (CSEC, Year 3) who aspire to utilise technology to solve challenges in the mental health sector; and Team naVIgaSION, comprising Ding Man (IEM), Tian Shulin (EEE), Wang Haoxuan (CS, Year 3) and Zhang Wei (IEM).  

Team deStigma’s creation is a technology initiative that aims to revolutionise the way Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is diagnosed. They provide a data-driven solution to assist psychiatrists in making accurate diagnoses and follow-up treatment. The symptoms-focused CV and NLP model, built on the Azure platform, analyzes facial expressions and speech patterns to accurately flag Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms. They evaluation service creates value for patients and caregivers by providing a comprehensive report on the ASD symptoms and progress tracking. The team mentor is Dr Wesley Tan Chee Wah from EEE. 

Team naVIgaSION's project focuses on designing a smart navigation application for visually impaired individuals. They believe in using their technical skills and modern technology to make a real-life impact on society, and they have proposed several ideas to improve the lives of the visually impaired community. 

During the intense online competition, the team demonstrated their skills and innovation, receiving support and applause from other teams, including Team AlbaCare and Team deStigma, the other 2 teams from NTU. The encouragement from fellow mates make every team feel that they are working as a ONE NTU family and community.

Congratulations to all the 3 teams!