The AIT Entrepreneurship Center (AIT EC) released an Open Call: AIT’s Fight Against Covid-19 in April inviting the AIT community and alumni to take part in fighting the global pandemic that struck the world. The competition was looking for projects that can create real impact to fight Covid-19 within 6 months. The AIT President was behind this initiative and released 250,000 Thai Baht to be used as seed funding for the winning projects.
A Virtual Pitch Competition categorized under Software and Hardware projects was held on 15 May 2020. Six software projects presented during the morning session in front of the judges including Dr. Sarayoot Eaimkhong, Senior Consultant, Healthcare Innovation Management, NSTDA; Mr. Emmanuel Prado, Financial and Business Consultant; and Dr. Chaklam Silpasuwanchai, Assistant Professor, ICT, AIT. In the afternoon session, seven hardware projects pitched in front of the judges Dr. Volker Patzel, Assistant Professor, Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, National University Singapore; Mr. Jeff Hamilton, Founder, GoMo; and Prof. Manukid Parnichkun, Professor, Mechatronics, AIT.
The winners for the software projects were:
- Alpha Protect, a mobile app that utilizes Bluetooth and Beacon technology to find out the presence of any infectious person in the near vicinity.
- Presenter: Mr. Aujaswi Maurya
- FreMen-Contra-COVID-19, a mobile app which uses spatio-temporal models developed in the robotics domain to forecast people density at exposed locations.
- Presenter: Dr. Waqar Shahid Qureshi
- Social Distancing Monitoring System, a camera (CCTV) application monitors social distancing, especially under queuing conditions.
- Presenter: Mr. Pramod Wickramatilake
The winners for the hardware projects were:
- Super Mask, a mask that has self-cleaning capability, improves communication while wearing the mask and includes viral detection.
- Presenter: Dr. Attaphongse Taparugssanagorn
- Personalized Breathing Device, this product addresses the issues of air pollution and provides safe air for all to breath by filtering and sanitizing air with Nano-technology solutions.
- Presenter: Dr. Tanujjal Bora
- Wawe Air Purifier, a multifunctional highly efficient air purifier that has the combination of two technologies: HEPA (High-efficiency particulate air) and Photocatalysis
- Presenter: Mr. Saikiran Gaddamedi
All the winners received seed funding of 50,000 THB for hardware projects and 35,000 THB for software projects, as well as additional support from the AIT Entrepreneurship Center (co-working space, promotion, and IP support). The winning teams are expected to make final presentations on the development of their projects in August 2020.
