Wireless app cops 1st place for Letran students in Smart contest

MANILA, Philippines—Students of Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba have developed a wireless device that enables users to control their electrical appliances and fixtures even while they are out of the house.

“SMS.AWT: Switching and Monitoring System Using Android in Wireless Technology” also helps minimize the risk of fire and other accidents.

For their achievement, the students bagged the P1-million grand prize in the 9th SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards, the annual search for the most innovative wireless applications and devices by students conducted by Smart.

The same app was chosen by Ericsson to receive its Networked Society Award, which recognizes innovations that lead to higher efficiencies.

SWEEP, or Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program, is the first industry-academe partnership that seeks to enhance the quality of technology and engineering education in the country.

First runner-up in this year’s competition was Tarlac State University (TSU) for its device, “SMART Helmet Engineered for Accidents and Disasters.”

De La Salle Lipa (DLSL) was second runner-up for its entry, “Systematic Market Application for Real-time Trading (Smart).”

TSU’s device enables the faster rescue of motorcycle accident victims by locating the accident area using global positioning system (GPS) technology. It also gives automatic vital condition updates of the victim to his nearest relative, police precinct and hospital.

Black box

The Android mobile application of the device also helps in the recovery of stolen motorcycles and has “black box” capability. It can record the locations where the motorcycle has been and can only be accessed with the user’s pass code.

DLSL’s invention enables users to shop for groceries from the comfort of their homes or elsewhere. They simply place their orders via mobile phone and pay via the app’s interface. After payment is confirmed, they can pick up the groceries at their convenience.

Three special awards were given: The Voyager Special Award to “Botika On The Go” of Ateneo de Manila University; IdeaSpace Award to “Wordify: A selected Language Translator Using Digital Image Processing” of the University of Southeastern Philippines, and the Smart Developer Award also to DLSL.

This is the ninth year of the SWEEP Awards which encourages wireless applications development among partner-schools and the harnessing of mobile technology for nation-building. For details, visit https://www.-smartsweep.ph.