The Innovation and Design Programme (iDP), a unique undergraduate experiential programme offered by the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre in the NUS College of Design and Engineering (CDE), brings together students from different majors to tackle real-world challenges.
Held on 19 April 2024 at block EA Atrium, the iDP Project Showcase 2024 featured over 30 innovative projects spanning healthcare, mobility, sustainable cities, smart living, intelligent systems and immersive reality. Students presented their respective projects to visitors and how the programme has impacted them.
Professor Teo Kie Leong, Dean of CDE, and other key leaders graced the event, chatting enthusiastically with students to find out more about their projects.
The event culminated with an awards ceremony. Visitors voted for their favourite projects under various categories, including “Most Useful Project”, “Most Inspiring Project” and “Most Fun Project”.
Some of the projects include a mobile workstation solution for healthcare professionals, swarm drones and a solution for wastewater treatment.
Nur Sabrina Bte Jamal and her team worked on the mobile workstation project. They developed their solution through their collaboration with the Ministry of Health Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT). They saw the need to develop a solution for home health nurses who often overpack medical equipment when visiting patients’ homes.
“Through our collaboration with MOHT, we conducted attachment with nurses from Minmed and Speedoc. After working on the ground with the nurses, we knew we had to devise a resolution to ease their workflow and help them in their day-to-day tasks”, said Sabrina. The team developed an all-in-one lightweight luggage with specialised features to streamline the packing, transport of equipment and administration of medication, increasing efficiency and comfort of nurses during shifts.
Although most students worked in teams, some did work on their own.
Nafil Zuhair Bin Nizzar was one of the few students who did an individual project. His work on a solution for wastewater treatment stemmed from his passion and interest in sustainability. He developed a novel, cost-effective approach to treating oily wastewater by incorporating various catalyst designs and optimising parameters. He added, “I was able to elevate my project with the expertise shared by professors from a wide range of backgrounds.”
The array of projects ranged from socially transformative designs that sought to improve lives, to projects that challenged students to push boundaries in design exploration and research.
Nandiraju Rishi Bharadwaj realised that most existing products that treat chronic constipation are unsuitable for long-term use as they cause dependency and worsen constipation in the long run.
“I decided to design something that does not create dependency but naturally helps you to allow your body to improve its bowel movements on its own,” said Nandiraju. His product, Innolax, which won Most Innovative Project, is a natural laxative that has been formulated to enhance natural bowel movements and promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria.
Beyond the hard skills, iDP helps students in other aspects of their academic journey. Liew Yung Jun adds, “iDP provided me with many new opportunities and helped me hone soft skills such as public speaking. My team’s project also aligns with our intended careers in the field of intelligence and robotics, and my experience in the programme helped me perform better at interviews!”
Yung Jun and his team developed a drone swarm that won 1st Runner-Up for Category E (Swarm) of the Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition (SAFMC) 2024. Using a decentralised and fully autonomous system, these drones can navigate through an unknown environment to search for victims.
In his closing speech, Dr Yen Shih-Cheng, Director of the Engineering Design and Innovation Centre, congratulated the students for their outstanding efforts.
“I hope you learned a lot and gained a sense of accomplishment,” he said, adding that he hopes to “see you (them) all again after you (they) graduate!”
A spotlight on the award winners for this Showcase:
- Most Investable Start-up: Caviato
- Most Innovative Project: Innolax: Innovative Natural Laxative
- Most Challenging Project: NUS Formula SAE Race Car
- Most Fun Project: Blended Wing Body Aircraft with Distributed Propulsion
- Most Useful Project: Mobile Workstation Solution for Healthcare Professionals
- Most Inspiring Project: Abdomentor: Abdominal Examination Trainer
- Best Poster Award: Sustainable Monitoring of Flora and Fauna
