UCC Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) Department Announcement, Dec.14, 2011
Three EEE Undergraduates Win 1st Place in 2011 IEEE/IBM International Student Project Competition
Photo Caption (Left to Right): Prof. Nabeel Riza, Head of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, UCC; Siobhan O’Connor (Nursing Studies, UCC); Fiona Edwards Murphy(Electrical and Electronic Engineering, UCC); Amy Long (Electrical and Electronic Engineering, UCC); Maura Power(Electrical and Electronic Engineering, UCC); Killian O’Connell(Business Information Systems, UCC); and Dr. Emanuel Popovici, Director of the Embedded Systems Group, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, UCC
World Health Organization and UNICEF reports show that there is an acute discrepancy across the planet in accessing health care or a specialist doctor. This problem has led to high mortality in developing and undeveloped nations. Very often a simple check or monitoring of vital signs by a specialist nurse or doctor, even for a short period, can improve this trend dramatically. For developed nations, a common characteristic is increased cost of healthcare which ultimately leads to decreased access to a specialist doctor.
A University College Cork inter-disciplinary team of five undergraduate students has won first place in the major international student award competition called “IEEE/IBM Smarter Planet Challenge: Student Projects Changing the World.” The IEEE/IBM award is for their project entitled “I-Care: Improved Medical Care Access”, in which they propose to use Wireless Body Area Networks and mobile phone technology and infrastructure to tackle the issue of medical access for many disadvantaged communities. The team is mentored by Dr. Emanuel Popovici, Lecturer in EEE and Director of the Embedded Systems Group at the EEE Department UCC. The student team members are: Fiona Edwards-Murphy (Student Member IEEE, Third Year EEE, project leader), Maura Power (Student member IEEE, Third Year EEE), Amy Long (Student Member IEEE, Third Year EEE), Siobhan O’Connor (Third Year Nursing Studies), and Killian O’Connell (Second Year Business Information Systems). The team is awarded certificates and US $ 3000. A significant interest from IEEE/IBM has been pledged to assist in completing the implementation of the proposed system.
