Batangas State University bags 2016 SWEEP innovation awards grand prize
A GROUP of engineering students from the Batangas State University won the grand prize at Smart Communications’ 12th SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards for Pinoy X-tra, an app connecting workers like plumbers, carpenters, and tutors with people who need their services.
The team received the P300,000 prize, while the school received a P150,000-grant from Smart. The school also bagged the Ericsson Networked Society Award.
For over a decade, Smart has been recognizing innovative projects of information technology and engineering students under its industry-academe partnership called the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP).
This year, 10 teams made the cut as finalists out of 304 groups that submitted entries from all over the country. A team from Asia Pacific College that developed a pocketsized electrocardiogram device was named second placer and received a P200,000 prize and a P100,000 grant for their school.
Placing third were representatives of University of San Jose Recoletos with their travel game app Quests. The students received P100,000, while their school got P50,000.
Other special citations during the ceremony were the Smart Innovation Award, given to De La Salle University Science and Technology Complex, and the Huawei Innovation Award given to Gordon College. The rest of the shortlisted teams and their respective schools received merit prizes.
The other finalists were students from Angeles University Foundation, De La Salle University-Science and Technology Complex, Gordon College, Holy Cross of Davao Col- lege, University of Cebu-Banilad, University of the Philippines Los Baños, and Wesleyan University Philippines.
SWEEP Awards is part of Smart’s SWEEP program, under which the company partners with colleges and universities to improve engineering and IT education in the country. SWEEP also aims to help schools produce industry-ready graduates or future technology entrepreneurs. For more information, please visit www.smartsweep.ph.