The ceremonial hall at Odense Town Hall was buzzing with talk, ideas and excitement when three months of hard work by 230 students were presented, evaluated and nominated on 15 December.
The future engineers, teachers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and marine engineers all gave a very professional presentation of their innovative solutions to a series of real world challenges.
Experts in Teams is an interdisciplinary project where the students during the autumn semester have worked in groups on developing the best solutions. At the fair on Odense Town Hall their ideas were evaluated by a panel of judges from the participating companies.
Solution in welfare technology: Automated toothbrush
The winning project was a result of a dynamic, interdisciplinary cooperation between Danish and International students who have developed the concept for an automated toothbrush. The challenge from the Danish Technological Institute was to design solutions for welfare technology in the future homes for the elderly and handicapped.
‘The idea is to enable elderly or handicapped persons to brush their teeth without using their hands. Their solution was that the person bites on a set of dentures which sprays water and liquid toothpaste into the mouth and brushes the teeth with small vibrations’, explains Nete Kronborg Jørgensen, bachelor of engineering student in chemistry.
‘It has been exciting to be part of this project but also a huge challenge because we cooperated across engineering programmes without the usual day-to-day contact. But the result was good and we have also prepared the ground for further development of our idea, e.g. a cleaning system’, says Nete Kronborg Jørgensen.
Cooperation creates results
Associate Professor Søren Jensen from the Institute of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark is one of the key persons behind Experts in Teams, which he believes provides the students with key skills:
‘In the future we need innovative solutions in a very complex world that no single person can comprehend all aspects of. Thus, it is very important that you are able to cooperate across professions and that is one of the things that the students learn in Experts in Teams’, says Søren Jensen.
Picture: In addition to the prize, the winning team won some champagne to celebrate their victory. Team members are Algis Korparicius, mechanical engineer, Nete Kronborg Jørgensen, chemical engineer, Aziza Muhamed Ibrahim, chemical engineer, Sebastian Kocent, robot systems engineer, Andrzej Pawel Smajola, mechanical engineer, Mathias Hvid Borg Kristensen, robot systems engineer.
See more pictures
For further information please contact
Associate Professor Søren Jensen, Institute of Technology and Innovation, tel. +45 6559 7513
Assistant Professor Charlotte Pedersen, Institute of Technology and Innovation, tel. +45 6550 7513
FACTS on the project
Objective
The overall objective of Experts in Teams, EiT, is to improve the students’ skills in existing companies’ innovation and development work.
Another objective is to use the student participation to raise the innovative and entrepreneurial competences of the participating companies and thus to strengthen Danish industry in the global competition.
Participating companies and projects
- VCS Denmark: Development of the entire company and its processes towards becoming a CO2 neutral company by 2014.
- TecCluster: Medical device design, including sales strategy towards hospitals and public service.
- Force Technology: New solutions in welfare technology to pregnant women and new mothers.
- Danish Technological Institute: Design of welfare technology in the future homes for the elderly and handicapped.
- Archidea: Solutions for noise reduction in music rooms and gyms based on an ongoing project, which will be built underground.
- INVIA: Solutions to challenges in connection with complex processes in the hospital sector with special focus on staff and patients.
- ASAPack: Flexible package deal in the form of fully automated dollies; from design and development to implementation and test.
- Formula Student: Design and construction of a race car, including design, tests, sponsor agreements, etc. This project is supported by and carried out at the University of Southern Denmark.
- IDEA House Odense: Work on own business idea towards company start-up or be motivated for and inspired to entrepreneurship. This project is carried out at the University of Southern Denmark.
20.12.2011
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