Winners of the 2017 IEEE Maker Project Competition Announced

January 16, 2018

The 2017 IEEE Maker Project submissions represented an impressive mix of projects, all with applications that ultimately benefit humanity. After evaluating hundreds of projects, the judges have announced winners for each category, as well as a Grand Prize winner.

The Grand Prize has been awarded to Rychard Nunes Guedes, Adjamilton Medeiros de Almeida Junior and Júlio Cézar Coêlho Barbosa Torquato from Brazil. The team created “Bubu Digital,” an electronic pacifier that measures body temperature as a way to help parents detect diseases in children and also help governments and medical researchers reduce child mortality.

Low-cost microcontrollers and sensors in the pacifier measure body temperature and send the data to an application that triggers an alert when the temperature falls outside of a normal range. To help take the invention to the next level, they will also receive a video mentoring session with IEEE Senior member Tom Coughlin, a lifelong advocate of the maker movement who served as one of the judges and hosted the IEEE Maker Project videos series.

Runner-up David Deininger was awarded second prize for his “Spectra Illuminated Electric Violins,” a violin that puts on a dazzling display of lights as it is played, giving audiences a musically-fueled light show.

Category winners included:

Accessibility: iFarm, a device to monitor atmospheric conditions remotely
Education: MoonTripKit, an augmented reality kit promoting childhood STEM education
Entertainment: Voice-controlled toy Lamborghini
Health and Safety: GyroRing, a wearable ring for Parkinson’s disease diagnosis
Sustainability: Belt&Light, minimalist DIY LED dim-to-warm lamp
Transportation: Smart robot for railway track inspection system
Other: DIY acoustic levitator for improved diagnosis and microgravity studies