Coordinated and co-organized by E-QUIPU, the School of Science and Engineering and the School of Management and Senior Management, this international event was carried out for a four-consecutive-year period, on May 23 and 24, where the students should provide innovative solutions to challenges and needs of enterprises globally and, thus, face challenges beyond the technological scope within a 24-hour time. In this occasion, firstly, the category “Best Swat Team” was globally for the “Multiplayer” team with RCube proposal. The group was composed of Omar Villa, Giuseppe Garibotto, Jordy Príncipe, Giancarlo Raú, alumni of our School; and students Milutza Cuaresma, Daniel Marcelo, Guillermo Moreno and Luis Robles. Guillermo Moreno tells us about his experience in the event.
Tell us about your experience participating in an event such as 24 Hours of Innovation.
Personally, it was a challenging experience and, at the same time, satisfactory. I have always thought that innovative and exceptional ideas deserve to have an own space to show and what better than an event such as 24 Hours of Innovation to do so.
Regarding the academic scope, it was very demanding because I had to rely on sound judgement to act at the time of deciding on which one should be the best solution to the problem raised. It was not sufficient to have an innovative idea, we had to do some research and order evidence that had to be seen, clearly, the problem and, above all, propose solutions.
Why is SWAT modality distinguished?
Category SWAT is a challenge, that is, the institution in charge of the event organization (Universidad Tecnológica Superior de Montreal – Canada) imposed on us, at random, a problem to solve without any possibility to change a topic that seems to be more attractive or easy to solve.
What were the problem areas chosen? Why?
The SWAT challenge gave us the mission to solve the problem of waste excess in concerts, sport events and performances, in general, that attracts a large number of people. The reason for which SWAT was chosen is that we felt to be able to play a good role, solve any situation imposed on us and, also, because it was a motivation to work more and to be efficient in each decision made.
What was proposed?
Our proposal is named “”RCube””, an intelligent container that would enable to identify, distribute and store trash discarded, in sport, musical events and others that attracts a large number of people, according to the type of waste, either organic, inorganic, made of plastic and/or glass.
The technology used is a series of electronic components in a container (sensors, compactor, batteries, etc.), jointly operating with a mobile application, which would enable users to be a part of the problem solution and, at the same time, to be rewarded for this. In this manner, users will obtain scores that may be exchanged for souvenirs, promotions and special discounts per waste introduced into RCube, depending on the type of event.
With this we can evidence the mission of our proposal is to create awareness to generate good habits, in other words, and to promote the habit of community recycling and cleaning, so that, by using incentives, people may change their way of thinking until it becomes a habit.
How was the experience of working in an interdisciplinary team? What were the duties of each one?
The experience of a team work was very enriching and motivating, since the beginning we knew it would not be easy and we had to perform more than a role if we wanted to compete at the same level with our colleagues of the University and the world. I think our skills complemented very well, but without being “Multiplayers” in each step of our creative process. If I have to describe this in a few words, the role performed by each one was fundamental from the general to the finest detail, from that aspect that raised the solution idea to that aspect with which the logo design was created.