electronica plays host to TI's Innovation Challenge

14th November 2014

Barney Scott

0 0

Today, at electronica (14^th November), the results of the Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge - Europe Analog Design Contest 2014 were announced. The presentation also featured speeches from previous TIIC winner, Hans De Clercq, TI representative Steve Lyle, and co-sponsor Mouser Electronics' Mark Burr-Lonnon.

The contest guides participants through a comprehensive product development cycle, covering a range of different topics and aiming to encourage students worldwide to think outside the box and come up with analogue- and embedded design-based solutions for today's engineering problems.

The contest's first prize of $10,000 was won by a team from KU (Katholieke Universiteit) Leuven with a diagnostic innovation. Cleverly named the TIagnose Watch, the device is aimed at easing the pressures of diagnosing conditions quickly, efficiently and safely in busy hospitals.

To check and monitor vital signs in patients, healthcare professionals currently use a variety of handheld devices such as thermometers, sphygmomanometers (blood pressure monitors) and stethoscopes. The TIagnose watch is unique in its ability to simultaneously measure blood oxygen saturation, body temperature and Bilirubin levels (an indicator for several diseases) with a single device.

Designed to be worn on the healthcare professional's wrist, the TIagnose watch can be wirelessly charged in just 5 seconds to enable 38 measurements from a standby life of 81 hours. Taking measurements via contact with the patient's skin in just one second, the wearable medical device is compact and hygienic.

The $5,000 prize for second place was won by a team of students from Wroclaw University of Technology, with their 2W 445nm Laser Diode Driver, an extension to a 3D printer which allows engraving on various materials.

$2,500 prizes were awarded to the third and fourth place finalists:

Students from Kielce University of Technology with a Wireless Personal Monitor, allowing vulnerable users to choose health monitoring functions for their specific requirements; and a Ruhr-Universitat Bochum student team, targeting future industrial and medical applications with their advanced high-res, low cost radar system.

Registration is now open for TI's 2015 Innovation Challenge, here. Free tools and design support are offered, helping to kick-start projects.