BENGALURU: Students of two engineering colleges in Bengaluru have had their projects shortlisted for the Accenture Innovation Challenge. Under the theme ‘Innovate for Societies’, Nihal Konan and Pujari Kiran Sai of Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, as well as Sabari Prabaaker R, Pranith H, Priyanka S and Deivanai A of Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology, have been chosen from the city, among 16 other teams across India.
Participants were expected to demonstrate their tech skills by applying disruptive and emerging tech in areas such as advanced analytics, automation, artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, crowdsourcing, digital ethics, cybersecurity, immersive reality, and Internet of Things (IoT).
The team from VIT developed a ‘cost-effective, ingestible, battery-less electronic health pill’ to predict and prevent sudden heart attacks. The data from the pill alerts family members or caretakers of an impending heart attack nine to 11 minutes before it happens. The team from NMIT developed a device that will detect eye problems such as blindness or glaucoma using a virtual reality app.
Mohan Sekhar, senior managing director and lead for Accenture Advanced Technology Centers, said, “Such challenges can help students transition to the industry seamlessly, as it gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of new technologies and spark their innovation potential.”
The two themes for this year’s event were innovate for business and innovate for society. “Prizes will be given to all the winning entries on October 24, which will be the grand finale. This will include prizes worth Rs 1,50,000 and Rs 75,000 to each member of the winning team and winners of the two themes respectively. Accenture will also setup a fast-track recruitment process for all eligible finalists,” Mohan added. There are six categories of prizes, including ‘grand prize winners’, ‘theme winners’, ‘best all-women’s team’, ‘jury’s choice and accenture employee’s choice’.