Microsoft today announced the winners of its Imagine Cup Asia Finals, an international technology and innovation competition.
The first prize was snagged by a team from Delhi that built their own anti-pollution masks for asthma patients.
Images courtesy: Microsoft Imagine Cup
In its 17th year, the competition offers students a chance to earn both cash and mentorships under the program. This time around, three students from the Manav Rachna Institute of Research & Studies snagged the top prize from 11 other Asian teams, for their invention Caeli.
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Caeli is basically a high tech mask you can wear in heavily polluted cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Though we assume anyone could use it, it's designed for patients with asthma or other chronic respiratory illnesses. It syncs with an Air Quality Index sensor, and is capable of not just improving the air quality for the wearer, but also automatically delivers drugs based on their dose schedule, pollution levels, and breathing difficulty.
The first runner-up prize went to Team RailinNova from China for their automated robot capable of inspecting train and rail components for issues. The second runner-up prize went to Team AidUSC from the Philippines. Their device, Aqua Check, is a mobile app than can gauge the purity of a water body by viewing a photo of a sample under a microscope.
Also Read:?Dangerous Level Of Air Pollution Isn't Just Hurting Your Lungs, But It's Also Making You Stupid
For their efforts, the three members of Team Caeli received a $15,000 (Rs 10.62 lakh) prize and will continue on to the Imagine Cup World Championship in Seattle in May.
If they win there, they could get more cash prizes, and even a mentoring session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.