The recently-concluded municipal-level ‘Creative Experience Competition with Intel Galileo U-Invent’ competition in Da Nang was considered as an ideal rendezvous for local senior high school pupils to wave a wand of their endless creativity. 

The C-Team members are keen on creating their Robot Arm device at the competition

Many of the entries at this challenging yet interesting were highly appreciated for their practicality and high applicability in life.

The annual ‘Creative Experience Competition with Intel Galileo U-Invent’ is an initiative of the US Texas A & M University, under the framework of the ongoing ‘The US Agency for International Development Connecting the Mekong through Education and Training (USAID COMET)’ project.  This contest has been held in many countries in the Mekong region.

Organised by the city-based Viet Nam-UK Institute for Research and Executive Education (VNUK), this year’s municipal-level event attracted a total of 14 teams from senior high schools. 

Under the completion’s rules, the contestants were required to create the most useful and practical inventions under the theme ‘A Smart City’ using Intel Galileo circuit boards.

Featuring 4 rounds, namely startup, design, implementation and presentation, the contest inspires creativity and spirit to test new ideas for the pupils under the enthusiastic guidance of experts in science, technology and business.

The contestants showed their keen interest in conducting their research activities at the Da Nang Maker Innovation Space, which is based at the University of Da Nang (UDN) at 41 Le Duan.

This is an experiential space where the talented pupils can design, create, innovate, and develop work-ready competencies. The area is designed to empower the participants to engage in a range of activities such as sharing their ideas, designing, building, and developing their new products.

All of the teams produced highly impressive projects, but the decision was made to crown the PCT Inventors Team the first prize of 7 million VND in cash for their BETTER project.

BETTER is a smart traffic system for assisting the blind to cross roads where traffic lights are located as well as preventing traffic accidents at crossroads or in small alleys.

The second prize of 5 million VND went to the DNL Team for their idea of creating a smart sewer system that greatly reduces the amount of waste accumulated in sewers which is a main cause of flooding. 

The third prize of 3 million VND went to the C-Team for the creation of a Robot Arm device to help the disabled solve their daily work, thereby partly making their lives easier and better.

The contest was greatly significant in fostering knowledge, developing creative thinking, promoting problem solving, and spurring entrepreneurial spirit, and especially encouraging personality and sense of community service for local pupils.

Tran Dinh Duy, a member from the PCT Inventors Team, highly hailed the competition for offering a wonderful opportunity for youngsters like him to uphold their strong passion for innovations, and to enhance such necessary life skills in order to create the best possible ideas in a scientific and professional manner. 

In a similar vein, another contestant happily said she had unforgettable memories during her participation at this competition as she learned more about effective ways to enhance presentation, programming and problem-solving skills.

Dr Nguyen Thi My Huong, the VNUK’s Vice Director remarked that the competition’s outstanding entries with a high applicability will be introduced to businesses in order to help bring them to fruition in the coming time.