Malaysian team wins People’s Choice Award

SYDNEY: Malaysia team won the People’s Choice Award for its Smart Urban Farming with Automated Environmental Controlled System (SUFECS) at the 2019 Microsoft Imagine Cup Asia Regional Finals, here, recently.

The SUFECS system enables farmers to monitor and control an artificial environment to achieve the most suitable environment for crops.

Microsoft also announced Team Caeli from India as the winner of Imagine Cup Asia Finals, after a high-strung finale against 11 other teams from the region.

Team Caeli won with its smart automated Anti-Pollution and Drug delivery mask specifically designed for patients suffering from asthma and other chronic respiratory conditions.

Caeli implements breakthrough features that will improve the quality of life for respiratory patients living in polluted areas.

The first runner-up and second runner-up places went to Team RailinNova from China and Team AidUSC from the Philippines, respectively.

Team RailinNova developed the Rail Component Inspection Robot, which determines and identifies rail defects through multi-sensor monitoring.

The solution strives to help railway companies solve any issues more efficiently and economically.

Team AidUSC came up with Aqua Check, a water contamination mobile application that enables detection of contamination by taking a photo of a water sample through a microscope.

Team Caeli received US$15,000 (RM61,200) and will continue their journey at the Imagine Cup World Championship, which will be held in Seattle, the United States in May.

The champion team at the World Championship will bring home US$100,000 (RM408,000), US$50,000 in Azure grant and a mentoring session with Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella.

“We are grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the Imagine Cup, and we are thrilled to represent Asia at the World Finals,” said Team Caeli’s Aakash Bhadana.

“We will continue to modify and improve our project based on the judges’ feedback before the competition in Seattle.”

This year, 12 finalist teams from 10 countries competed in the Asia Finals, including from Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The judging panel included Microsoft senior executives and industry leaders.