A campaign to improve driversʼ eye health wins Innovation Day at the UB

A moment during the activities of Innovation Day.
A moment during the activities of Innovation Day.
Academic
(14/11/2019)

Stickers in cars as the core of a campaign to raise awareness among drivers regarding the importance of having their eyes checked is the winner idea of Innovation Day at the University of Barcelona. The activity took place on Saturday, November 9 at the StartUB space, where university students from different fields created multidisciplinary groups to find technological solutions for current challenges within the fields of eye health, public health and cardiovascular health.

A moment during the activities of Innovation Day.
A moment during the activities of Innovation Day.
Academic
14/11/2019

Stickers in cars as the core of a campaign to raise awareness among drivers regarding the importance of having their eyes checked is the winner idea of Innovation Day at the University of Barcelona. The activity took place on Saturday, November 9 at the StartUB space, where university students from different fields created multidisciplinary groups to find technological solutions for current challenges within the fields of eye health, public health and cardiovascular health.

Innovation Days are organized by EIT Health, the highest European body on innovation on healthy life and active ageing, and intend to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of health among university students. This year, about thirty Innovation Days are held in Europe, and the one in the University of Barcelona is the only one held in Catalonia.

The first prize was given to a group asked to solve the challenge on the driversʼ eye health and reduce the negative impact a bad sight can have on driving. Under the name of EAGLE, they presented stickers that would first help to examine visual sharpness of drivers. Ten, every driver could stick the item in the car, which would have a message related to the importance of taking care of eye health. This would also have a marketing campaign to promote the use of these stickers.

The second prize was given to a project on public health, the POMA app, which would promote through a game, a change of healthy habits with the family and neighbours, apart from sharing scientific information in a short and clear way for every user. The third prize was for a challenge on cardiovascular health: the In Sictus device would monitor predictive indicators for stroke accidents in patients who have suffered from a previous episode of this type.

The Barcelona Innovation Day started with an institutional welcome and the speeches by several experts that gave elements of reflection to inspire the students. The participants, divided into multidisciplinary groups, had to work on one of the prosposed fields: eye health, public health, and cardiovascular health. Every field had a challenge the students had to solve with the help from their coaches. Students had to work on a proposal for a solution, through a social initiative or a business project.

At the end of the activity, led by the UB Department of Business with the support of the Vice-rectorʼs Office of Entrepreneurship, Transfer and Innovation, students presented the jury their solution proposals. The jury chose the best solution of each field and then, among the three finalist, they chose the only and final winner. The first prize accounts for 400 euros and the second and third prize account for 200 euros. The challenges students had to face were real problems of current society which have been presented in the frame of EIT Health and have been proposed by entities that are partners of this consortium, counting on the participation of almost all faculties of the UB and the validation of the experts from different fields. The aim of the Innovation Day participation is to be a first step to encourage current students from different disciplines to take a professional career related to innovation and health.

EIT Health, an international consortium formed by more than 140 leading companies, universities and research centers from fourteen European countries, has the support of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which belongs to the Eurpean Union. With a budget accounting for 2,000 million euros for the next decade, the consortium -the most ambitious European initiative within the field of health with public funding- hopes to create about 340 business ideas and 165 start-ups, and involve a million students in its specific programs. The University of Barcelona is a principal partner of EIT Health Spain.