The 27 students from the CBI Fusion Point (CBI-FP) program had their Final Gala on December the 8th, 2022 at CERN IdeaSquare, where they had the opportunity to showcase the prototypes they were working on during the last week. These prototypes were focused on a specific challenge to address the third UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG3): ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
This was the first round of the CBI program, and students collaborated with researchers from the R&D&I projects, that are also under the ATTRACT umbrella, exploring their technologies and using them as solutions. Furthermore, students also interviewed their targeted audience to better understand their needs and incorporate their inputs into the final products and services prototyped to solve their challenges.
During their stay at CERN, students were working on their prototypes using 3D printing, programming Arduino and neuronal networks, using the laser cutter and rehearsing their Elevator pitches. These are the five teams that participated:
- Team Fleming: “i2i”. Students address the problem of people with visual disabilities in developing communities. They contacted some NGOs which deal with this issue in Sierra Leone. They developed the concept of a low-cost and portable ophthalmological examination device based on a visible/NIR camera with the perspective of including hyperspectral imaging techniques from the ATTRACT technologies and AI-based automated diagnostics.
- Team Galilei: “BI-BO (Breath In – Breath On)”. Students faced the challenge of detecting lung cancer in its early stages given the low survival rate when detected through symptoms. They proposed to use a very sensitive, single photon ATTRACT technology to detect lung cancer in the breath air using cutting-edge biomarkers.
- Team Manabe: students dealt with mesothelioma induced by asbestos fibres inhalation in shipbreaking workers in Bangladesh. The solution combines an awareness generation program with a diagnostic device based on the use of hyperspectral analysis of the pleural liquid using disruptive ATTRACT technology.
- Team Marie Curie: “LUMO”. Students faced the need of making cancer treatment follow-up more accessible in rural areas. Using an ATTRACT small-size and low-cost gamma camera together with a transport service for radiotracers, they propose an imaging system to monitor the evolution of tumours with a manually operated probe, similar to an echography imaging system.
- Team Skłodowska: “Visionary Health Services Scanner”. Students identified a specific need in the Western Balkans, where there is a chronic scarcity of geriatric healthcare, especially in rural areas. They proposed a technology-enabled diagnostic device for cardiac diseases which would not need highly trained staff for its use.
The CBI-FP program is coordinated by Esade in partnership with IED Barcelona and UPC. And it aims to identify and relate science and technology to societal challenges using different approaches to innovation.
More information about the CBI-FP program here.
