STI College-Balagtas students’ thesis big winner in MOST Awards

Recognizing young visionaries and exceptional outputs, STI recently held the Search for Most Outstanding Student Thesis (MOST) Awards, the annual national level commendation for undergraduate thesis projects chosen by an esteemed panel of judges from the industry.

Besting various nominations and entries from across the STI network, a groundbreaking bus passenger assistance system was proclaimed the winner under the BS Computer Science category. Presented by a group of students from STI College-Balagtas namely Hector Galvez II, Jommel Christopher Hilario, Jefferson Masangkay, and Lorraine Guillen Norbe, the winning project was developed as a solution to the emerging challenges in the country’s transportation system, inspired by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Point-to-Point (P2P) bus service.

The Bus Passenger Assistance is an automated and all-in-one functional software that offers necessary details about a bus for an improved commuting time. It intends to help bus passengers traveling along the busy street of Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue (EDSA). Through LCD monitors in bus stops and terminals, the system provides commuters with the status of incoming bus units, including the bus number, its current whereabouts, route, the estimated time of arrival (ETA), and available seats on the vehicle. Commuters can also access this information on demand via text message.

This unique innovation uses smart cards (regular cards, cards for senior citizens, persons with disability, students, and children) as a mode of transaction. It stores and transmits data using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), plus a mini thermal printer that issues receipt.