For the third time, the Innovatiecluster Drachten organized the Inventor's Competition in Schouwburg De Lawei on Tuesday 16 June. The twelve companies do this in collaboration with the municipality of Smallingerland. The assignment to the students was to invent something that helps children with concentration problems to better absorb the lesson material.
This year five teams competed for the grand prize of €3000. Due to unforeseen circumstances, not all educational institutions were able to provide teams. The five participating teams from Hanze University Groningen had come up with exceptional solutions. The jury, consisting of employees of companies from the Innovation Cluster, chose the ASKid of one of the teams from the Hanzehogeschool. This invention consists of a device that students have on their table and is in contact with the teacher. The student can give the ASKid 3 different colors, each of which has its own meaning. This allows the teacher to see what the child needs. In addition, the device provides a daily task summary and can increase motivation by offering a game after tasks are completed.
The second prize of €2000 went to the invention Helping Light. This tool provides better communication between the student and the teacher through a light system. It is aimed at “Snappet schools,” schools that use tablets. And finally, the third prize went to the students who invented the Vocus. They found in their research that noise in particular is the biggest cause of concentration problems. The Vocus measures, among other things, the sound each child makes and shows that on a screen on its table. This way the child is also aware of it. In addition, the Vocus displays the daily schedule. The teacher has contact with all devices and can thus monitor the progress of each child.
The annual Utivinders competition is intended to give students inspiration by challenging them to apply new techniques to everyday problems. The collaboration with education is of great importance to Innovatiecluster Drachten, because today's students are the (technical) employees of later. Would you like to know more about the competition or the Innovation Cluster? Visit www.icdrachten.nl or Facebook.
For an impression of the event in 2015 click here.
Source: Broadout