In the Health Sync project, a solution was created where, among other things, technology to register health was integrated into smart homes, enabling people to keep track of their health in an efficient and accessible way.
The project was praised by the jury for the insight that health-related problems of the future will not be solved without an integrated perspective where many different solutions are combined. They argued that the engineers of the future will spend a lot of time combining different solutions and components and that the winning team already exhibits this ability.
- It is my opinion that their problem definition shows an understanding of the complexity of the major challenges that health care is facing in the future, where the focus on prevention is a key success factor. I especially liked that they acknowledged the need of having an actual face to face video meeting with the medical staff - everything cannot be measured and monitored through data alone but you will also need a visual examination. But this can be integrated into the home in a smart way. Great and thorough research, easy to read and good presentation, said Malena Lau regional developer at Region Västra Götaland, and also one of the judges in the challenge.
The win came as a shock to Sara.
- When Alice sent me a text: "Have you seen it!?", I thought that it might be that we had won, but I didn't dare believe it. When I checked my email and saw the message, I had to read it several times, it was so unreal!
For Alice, one of the benefits of attending the Junior Academy was to work with young people from all over the world.
- In the team we formed there are participants from the Philippines, Australia, USA and Sweden, she says.
Sara talks about the commitment and the difficulties of an international group.
- Working in this team was so cool. We talked about what was to be done, and the next time we spoke everything was done! That is not always the case when you participate in group work. We came from four different time zones so there was always someone sleeping. But we could continue each other's work, and continue where someone else had stopped.
Also, learning all the digital tools they used was helpful,
- I have learnt a lot during this short period of time. I'm in year seven, only 13 years old, and many of the digital programs and technology which we used, I have never used before, says Alice. But now I feel that I know them well! We have learnt to cooperate and discuss to find solutions we were all satisfied with. Having to work to keep deadlines was also a great learning experience, she continues.
The winning team with the Health Sync solution consisted the following people: Sara R (Sweden), Ansh G (USA), Alice F (Sweden), Zoe P (USA), Sophia L (Australia) and Jana M (The Philippines). Jessica Puzzuoli (USA) assisted them as a mentor.
You can read more about their winning contribution here. If you would like to learn more about the Junior Academy, you will find more information via this link.
