STMicroelectronics , a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronic applications and the world’s top manufacturer of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)[1], announced today that the Best Doughnut Team from the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) has won first place at the 2013 iNEMO™ Design Contest. The winning project, titled “Laparoscopic Operation Simulation Training”, successfully applied the latest MEMS innovations to the healthcare industry. The second and third place awards have gone to the Team Science Reformers from NTUST and Team Automation from the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology.

With the booming use of sensing applications in smart mobile and wearable devices, MEMS sensor technology has become an integral part of intelligent living. This year’s iNEMO Design Contest theme, “Innovation in New Life”, has encouraged engineering talents in Taiwan to explore the innovative potential of MEMS in healthcare and intelligent-living applications. During a six-month run, more than 200 students from 25 universities in Taiwan submitted designs.

In its third year, ST’s iNEMO Design Contest, co-sponsored by Taiwan’s Nanotechnology and Micro System Association, has already become popular among Electronic and Electrical Engineering students and professors in the elite schools in Taiwan and many professors have even encouraged their students to compete in the contest for two years in a row. ST has increased the cash prize for the top three winners[2] this year and offered complete technical support by providing its smart multi-sensor boards and assigning a dedicated engineering team to help participants meet their technical challenges.

Best Doughnut team from NTUST has claimed the crown in this year’s contest with its cutting-edge “Laparoscopic Operation Simulation Training” for medical students and doctors in training on laparoscopic operations and gastric bypass surgeries. The training solution combines a sensor module with surgery instruments to perform the most efficient calculations and corrections for the movements of any hand-held instrument using fundamental data on gravity, magnetic force, angular velocity, and the angle of a clip during a surgery. The positioning data is sent via Bluetooth to a 3-D virtual practice system on a computer. The solution records the movement patterns and individual duration of each practice and offers an assessment on the skills of the operator. The application can bring great value and a significant contribution to the medical-training environment in Taiwan.

The Science Reformers team, also from NTUST, won second place with its “Miracle Worker – Intelligent Stretcher”, which integrates the accelerometer and gyroscope of an iNEMO sensor with an Arduino™ control panel and an RC server motor to enhance the stability and balance of a patient stretcher in motion when carried by paramedics. In addition, the entry’s concept of compensating balance can also be applied to other sectors, including the safe and stable transportation of valuables.

The third-place winner, the Automation team from Taiwan’s National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, developed an “Indoor iNEMO-based Shopping-Mall Navigation System”. Designed to provide indoor navigation in a shopping mall using an iNEMO sensor as a pedometer and electronic compass, the application enables users to plan the shortest shopping route within the mall with the positioning sensor and the system’s screen display on a shopping cart.

In addition to acknoledging the top three winners and their excellent projects, the judges also granted seven honorable mentions to teams from Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Taipei University of Science and Technology, National Formosa University, and Feng Chia University. These teams’ projects run the gamut from motion-sensing and gaming to industrial application, demonstrating the vast potential of MEMS-based technical innovation in Taiwan.

Collins Wu, Regional Marketing Director, Analog, MEMS and Sensors, Greater China and South Asia Region, STMicroelectronics, noted: “ST is at the forefront of MEMS industry development and our MEMS products have become among the most popular on the market. With the iNEMO contest, which represents a successful partnership between industry and academia, we foster local industry growth and talent cultivation in MEMS among Electronic Engineering and Electrical Engineering students in Taiwan. We will continue to host the iNEMO Design Contest to help inspire innovative technology applications that will enrich people’s life and user experiences.”