Winners of the competition pose with their teacher. — Dawn
A team from the Nust School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science won the first prize in the Middle East and Africa semi finals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2018 with their project titled Fe-Amaan Foetal Monitoring and Analysis.
Teams from Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey took part in the competition on May 23, 2018 in Cairo, Egypt in which the team from Nust secured first position.
The project has now qualified for the world final which is scheduled to take place in July at the Microsoft headquarters in Seattle, USA.
The world champions will be given a USD100,000 cash prize. The Microsoft Imagine Cup is the world’s premier student technology competition and since 2003, Microsoft has provided a global platform for students to bring their novel ideas to life.
Fe-Amaan consists of a wearable belt and a mobile application providing remote and automated analysis of foetal health on a regular basis without harm to the mother or foetus. In case of anomalies in heart rates or movement patterns, the system generates alerts, enabling timely precautionary measures. The system aims to reduce the high rate of miscarriages in Pakistan.
The country currently ranks highest in child birth fatalities, miscarriages are frequent in rural areas due to lack of proper medical facilities. Fe-Amaan will provide a ready solution to problems related to timely and regular monitoring of foetal health.
After mass production, it will be used by lady health workers in rural and remote areas. Currently, Fe-Amaan is collaborating with Prof Dr Rizwana Chaudhri, dean of the department of obstetrics and head of gynae at the Holy Family Hospital for product testing and evaluation.
The team consists of BS computer science students Iqra Irfan, Sami Ullah and Areeba Kamil, and Dr Imran Mahmood, assistant professor at SEECS, was their supervisor.
Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2018