The International Students Innovation Competition (ISIC 2018) was successfully held at SEM from July 7, 2018 to July 14, 2018. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO) and ShanghaiTech University are the co-sponsors of this event. Professor Ding Lu, Vice Dean of SEM, hosted the final session of Investor Pitching. Students’ brilliant innovative ideas were presented at this session. Professor Hanming Fang, Dean of SEM and experts from academic and industrial fields served as judges in this session and made comments on the students’ works.
The theme of ISIC 2018 is “Healthy Living in China”. As Professor Lu pointed out in his opening remark, in the era when the China economy goes through transition from quantitative expansion to quality growth, healthy living has become what people pursue for better life. The theme of this competition is thus of great significance. Fifty-five students from the three universities were divided into nine competing teams. Each team needs to identify and choose a typical problem related to the issue of healthy living in the Chinese society, then to create a new product or service to solve the problem with a detailed business plan.
During the week-long competition, students were engaged in intensive activities including expert talks, faculty mentoring, team brainstorming, company visits, and investor pitching. SEM offered various professional talks on topics of Food Safety, Medical Imaging and Equipment, Chemical Materials, High-end Medical Treatment and Public Health Care in China. The students visited Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Cell Therapy Group Ltd. and Swiss Center Shanghai, and they also went to different institutions and commercial districts to meet the experts and consumers and to do field researches.
The winning team (Xiangyu Yang from ShanghaiTech, Zhi Yun Yap from HKUST, Begoña Lopez, Ahmed Abid, Andrea Cogua and Tanay Rohatgi from HES-SO) created a mobile medical vehicle to provide the elderly people living in rural area with free body-check services. The product also included an automated system, an interactive app, a video demonstration, an integrated body-check system and an analysis system of machine learning. The judges were impressed by this project because it was the only project of public service in ISIC 2018. This project could help the elderly people in rural area to have early diagnosis and early treatment. It offers a solution for the government to address the challenges of population aging and to improve the health care service level in rural areas. The First and Second Runner Up Team Awards were given to the fashionable BREEZ Mask and the smart baby stroller named Cocoon, both were designed for protection against air pollution. Tanay Rohatgi （HKUST）was the winner of the Best Presenter Award. Tan Kutluoglu（HES-SO）received the First Runner Up of Best Presenter Award while Hao Xu and Yincen Xia (ShanghaiTech) received the Second Runner Up of the Best Presenter Award.
The competing teams were judged by the worth of the problem to be solved, innovation & use of technology, effectiveness of business model, and professionalism of teamwork and presentation. Students’ high-quality works impressed the judges and industrial experts. Working together with students from different places has benefitted the participants. As noted by a student from ShanghaiTech, through this competition, they have improved understanding of various cultural identities and gained precious friendships. They have also acquired skills of innovations and developed capability to work together as a team with people of different backgrounds.
