Islanders Participate in International Competition: Invent for the Planet

Luisa Buttler

February 22, 2019

Prasanna Kumar Annapreddy adds his idea to the baord of potential projects. Mahmound Alshaghab adds his idea to the baord of potential projects. Mahmound Alshaghab and Jamiu Opoola discuss their group project. 2019_0215-InventForThePlanet-MK-5354 2019_0215-InventForThePlanet-MK-5356 Sandeep Jilla adds his idea to the board of potential projects. 2019_0215-InventForThePlanet-MK-5363 Morgan Bender checks in on group progress. Morgan Bender checks in on group progress. Rudy Salomon pitches his group's idea. Rudy Salomon pitches his group's idea. Dr. David Bridges responds to the students' pitched ideas. 2019_0215-InventForThePlanet-MK-5390 Dr. Sabeen Syed provides insight into the application of the students' ideas. 2019_0215-InventForThePlanet-MK-5399 Jamiu Opoola pitches his group's idea. Dr. Scott King responds to the students' pitched ideas. Dr. Scott King responds to the students' pitched ideas. 2019_0215-InventForThePlanet-MK-5424 Team Elite Innovation Elite Innovation works on their project. Mahmound Alshaghab and Judith Pope of Islander Inventors research their topic. Team Islander Inventors collaborate on their project. 2019_0216-InventForThePlanet-MK-5450 2019_0216-InventForThePlanet-MK-5456 Prasanna Kumar Annapureddy designs his group's project. Prasanna Kumar Annapureddy and Jaron Burns collaborate for their group project. 2019_0216-InventForThePlanet-MK-5460 Dr. Sabeen Syed provides guidance for Judith Pope and Team Islander Inventors. Garrett Swenson talks with teammate Rudy Salomon about his group's project. Prasanna Kumar Annapureddy researches for his group's project. Team Islander Inventors Team Islander Inventors Schools across the globe take part in Invent for the Planet. Schools across the globe take part in Invent for the Planet. Sandeep Jilla works on the circuitry of his group's project. 2019_0216-InventForThePlanet-MK-5498 Jamiu Opoola researches circuitry for his project. Judith Pope shows her team her progress on their presentation. Team Islander Inventors Cesar Sanchez of Elite Innovation. Samantha Suarez of Elite Innovation. Kevin Torres of Elite Innovation. Sandeep Jilla of Elite Innovation. 2019_0217-InventForThePlanet-MK-5877 2019_0217-InventForThePlanet-MK-5879 2019_0217-InventForThePlanet-MK-5887 Team Elite Innovation. Islander Inventors present their project. Garett Swenson of Islander Inventors. Mahmound Alshaghab of Islander Inventors. Rudy Salomon of Islander Innovators. Jaron Burns of Islander Innovators. Prasanna Kumar Annapureddy of Islander Innovation. 2019_0217-InventForThePlanet-MK-5930 2019_0217-InventForThePlanet-MK-5931 Team Islander Inventors. Team Islander Inventors. Prasanna Kumar Annapureddy receives his certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Jaron Burns receives his certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Cesar Sanchez receives his certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Kevin Torres receives his certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Samantha Suarez receives her certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Garrett Swenson receives his certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Judith Pope receives her certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Jamiu Opoola receives his certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Rudy Salomon receives his certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Mahmound Alshaghab receives his certificate of participation in Invent for the Planet. Team Islander Inventors. Team Elite Innovation. Dr. Ahmed Mahdy gives his closing statements. 2019_0217-InventForThePlanet-MK-5966 2019_0217-InventForThePlanet-MK-5967 2019_0217-InventForThePlanet-MK-5970 Garrett Swenson of Islander Inventors. Prasanna Kumar Annapureddy of Islander Inventors. Mahmound Alshaghab of Islander Inventors. Rudy Salomon of Islander Inventors. Judith Pope of Islander Inventors. Jamiu Opoola and Cesar Sanchez of Elite Innovation. Jamiu Opoola of Elite Innovation. Cesar Sanchez of Elite Innovation. Mahmound Alshaghab of Islander Inventors.
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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi students raced against the clock during the “Invent for the Planet” competition – a 48-hour multidisciplinary contest held Feb. 15-17 in the I-Create Lab at the Mary and Jeff Bell Library. Thanks to modern technology, Islanders worked in tandem with students from 37 other universities in over 22 countries and 16 different time zones to tackle some of the most challenging issues facing the planet today. Islander students were given two important themes: improving quality of life and smart elderly care.

“Invent for the Planet is a prime example of how a culture of innovation can take place in multiple disciplines between departments, cities, states, and countries,” said Sharmeen Ahmed, research and commercialization analyst with the Division of Research and Innovation at A&M-Corpus Christi. “This whole experience gave our students from different majors and backgrounds the opportunity to work together to invent a solution to a global problem.”

The competition started Friday as all participants and judges came together to meet for the first time, brainstorm ideas with mentors, and form two groups – the night didn’t end until about midnight. At 7:30 a.m. Saturday, the groups came together again to begin working on their projects, designing prototypes, and creating presentations. One group, the Islander Inventors, decided to create a navigation belt – called Roamers – for blind individuals that signals walking directions via vibration.

“We chose for the modules to vibrate instead of make a sound because if there is any voice, other people will know the user is wearing the belt,” said Prasanna Annapureddy, an international student from India pursuing a master’s in computer science. “The reason we chose this project is because the blind should not feel blind.” 

When the second team, Elite Innovation, discovered that many elderly people suffer from chronic dehydration, they decided to create a smart water bottle – called Aqua Tracks – with LED lights that flashes in regular intervals. This notifies elderly people to drink water at regular intervals and allows caregivers to keep track of their patient’s hydration levels.  

“When I initially saw the advertisement for event, I was intimidated because I thought it was something that has to do with building software, or that it was just for science and engineering students,” said Jamiu Opoola, who is working towards a master’s in accounting. “But business students are able to see things from a different perspective, which brings something important to the table.”

Again, on night two, the students left after midnight. They returned at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning to finalize their projects before presenting their proposals in front of the judges at 2 p.m.

“The long hours show the true commitment these students had to their projects,” said Ahmed. “It shows their entrepreneurial mindset and innovative spirit.”

Ultimately, the judges choose the “Roamers” as the group to move on to the next stage. The Islander Inventors won a cash prize of $1,000, and Elite Innovation, with Aqua Tracks, won a cash prize of $750 to divide amongst the team. The winning group is now tasked with recording a 10-minute presentation and submitting it to Microsoft Teams Environment. The top five teams from around the world will then be announced on March 8, and each of these teams will be invited to the final competition to be held at Texas A&M University in College Station in April. Global winners will be awarded $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place, $1,000 for third place.

Special thanks to the judges for the A&M-Corpus Christi competition:

  • Morgan Bender, owner of Homestead Senior Living
  • Dr. L.D. Chen, Associate Dean of the College of Science & Engineering
  • Dr. David Gurney, Associate Professor of Media & Communication
  • Dr. Ahmed Mahdy, Vice President for Research and Professor of Computer Science
  • Dr. Sabeen Syed, Pediatric Gastroenterologist at Driscoll Children’s Hospital

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