Innovative winners named
In a bid to encourage the creation of innovations that can help authorities deal with the flood crisis, the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), in cooperation with PTT, launched a "Mobility in the Time of Floods" competition on O
From the 110 proposals submitted, 89 were chosen as winners, though only 59 of the prototypes could be demonstrated at Lumpini Park yesterday.
Each innovation had to fulfil three categories: usage under less than a metre of water, creativity of the product, and speediness. Each category had five prizes, with the winner getting Bt100,000, the two runners-up getting Bt50,000 each, the third place getting Bt30,000, and a fifth team getting Bt10,000 for merit. The judges also granted Bt3,000 to each of the 59 teams demonstrating their innovations yesterday.
Before demonstration, each team had to show how the prototype was assembled and what its winning features are before it was used in water. Each team had to get enough points in each category to win.
Innovations winning in the speed category were projects that helped vehicles move in water and helped locate misplaced items. The winning teams in this category came from King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Thammasat University and Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology.
Under the category of creativity, King Mongkut’s University of Technology in Thon Buri won for the development of the “2-in-1 boat”.
However, nobody won in the category of gadgets that can be used in less than a metre of water.
To be eligible, the innovations were not allowed to use electric or motor power, had to weigh no more than 160 kilograms, could be proved to be applied in a real flooding situation and could be used to transport either people or belongings.
Kwan Sritathani from the National Electronics and Technology Centre under the NSTDA said the objective was to encourage people to come up with innovations that can be used during a flood crisis.
