SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

In the real world, real solutions are hatched from a combination of experts in several different fields. NYP’s new initiative put together students of different disciplines from both the School of Engineering (SEG) and the School of Health Sciences (SHS), to explore solutions for dementia patients:

• A wearable watch-like device that is imbued with GPS technology. It buzzes and pings, and gives very simple directional information to help patients find their way to their day care centre and back home - a cognitive task that gets harder for dementia sufferers.
• A lost and found system that uses sound to help dementia patients find their keys,
• A gadget to remind patients to close doors after themselves.
• A chat app that provides an online support group, and resources for caregivers.
• Multiple programmes and games that help keep the brain engaged and active.

The Diploma in Digital and Precision Engineering student 3-D printed parts of the watch and strap, the students from the Diploma in Electronic Systems did the coding for the GPS and sound alerts, the Multimedia & Infocomm Technology student put all the innovations into an app, an SHS Nursing student helped evaluate the prototypes, all while led by the experience and ideas from Chanel Li, the team lead from SHS's Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work).

Their work, along with other multidisciplinary projects, were showcased at the 2017 MakerFaire Singapore.