Meet the global students solving local problems with code

July 23, 2020


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Posted by Erica Hanson, Developer Student Clubs Program Manager, Google

Google Developer Student Clubs (DSC) are university based community groups for students who are interested in Google’s developer technologies. Each year, Google puts a call out to the entire DSC global community, asking students to answer one simple question: Can you solve a local problem in your community by building with Google’s technologies?

This event is known as the DSC Solution Challenge and this year’s winners went above and beyond to answer the call - so much so that we couldn’t just pick one winner, we chose 10.

While we initially thought we were the ones sending out the challenge, these young developers instead flipped the script back on us. Through their innovative designs and uncompromised creative spirit, they’ve pushed our team here at Google to stretch our thinking about how developers can build a more hopeful future.

With this, we’re welcoming these passionate students and anyone interested to the virtual Solution Challenge Demo Day on August 26th, where the students will present their winning ideas in detail.

Ahead of the event, learn more about this incredible group of thinkers and their solutions below.

1. FreeSpeak - Technical University of Munich, Germany

Maria Pospelova, Wei Wen Qing, and Almo Gunadya Sutedjo developed FreeSpeak, a software that uses modern machine learning and video/audio analyzing tools by leveraging TensorFlow and Google Cloud’s Natural Language to analyze presentations and give individual feedback and tips as a “virtual coach.”

“We’ve loved connecting with talented people from around the world and exchanging ideas with them. We see that we can provide impact not only to our local neighborhood, but also around the world and help people. This motivates us to work a lot harder.”

2. CoronaAI - University of California Berkeley, United States

Anushka Purohit, Anupam Tiwari, and Neel Desai created CoronaAI, a TensorFlow based technology that helps examine COVID-19 data. Specifically, the device is made up of a band worn around a patient's chest that uses electrodes to extract real-time images of the lungs. From here, the band connects to a monitor that allows doctors to examine patients in real time without being near them.

“We're honestly huge fans of the Google Cloud Platform because of its simplicity, familiarity, and the large number of resources available. Developing this project was the best learning experience.”

3. Worthy Walk - National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences, Pakistan

Syed Moazzam Maqsood, Krinza Momin, Muhammad Ahmed Gul, and Hussain Zuhair built Worthy Walk: an Android and iOS app that provides its users a platform to achieve health goals by walking, running, or cycling. To encourage users, Worthy Walk provides an inbuilt currency called Knubs that can be redeemed as discounts from local businesses, shops, and startups.

“Being a part of DSC means friendship - sharing knowledge and resources - all while developing a social infrastructure that gives people the power to build a global community that works for all of us.”

4. Simhae : Deep sea of mind - Soonchunhyang University, South Korea

Yuna Kim, Young hoon Jo, Jeong yoon Joo, and Sangbeom Hwang created Simhae, a platform created with Flutter and Google Cloud that allows users to access basic information and activities to inspire them to attend self-help gatherings run by suicide prevention centers. They believe that this experience is an important point that can lead to solidarity of suicide survivors.

“It's so nice to have a chance to meet more diverse people. Through these communities, I can make up for my shortcomings and share more information with those who have different experiences than me - all while developing my own potential.”

5. Emergency Response Assistance - University of Education, Winneba (College of Technology Kumasi), Ghana

Elvis Antwi Sarfo, Yaw Barnieh Anane, Ampomah Ata Acheampong Prince, and Perditha Abena Acheampong constructed Emergency Response Assistance, an Android application to help health authorities post the latest first aid steps to educate the public and also help the victims report emergency cases with a click of a button. The Emergency Response team will also be able to track the exact location of the victims on the map.

“DSC is not just a community, it’s an inspiration. It’s outstanding how the platform has brought all of these students, lecturers, and teaching assistants, who are all so passionate about using tech to solve problems, together.”

6. Tulibot - Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia

Muhammad Alan Nur, Pravasta Caraka Bramastagiri, Eva Rahmadanti, and Namira Rizqi Annisa created Tulibot: an integrated assistive technology, built with the Google Speech API, that’s made to bridge communication between deaf people and society. The group made two main devices, Smart Glasses and Smart Gloves. Smart Glasses help with communication for the hearing impaired by showing real time answers directly on the glasses from its interlocutors. Smart Gloves transcribe gesture input into audio output by implementing gesture to text technology.

“This has been an amazing opportunity for us because with this challenge, we can learn many things like coding, management, business, and more. The special materials we can get directly from Google is so helpful.”

7. Picare - The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hong Kong

Sze Yuk Yin, Kwok Ue Nam, Ng Chi Ting, Chong Cheuk Hei, and Silver Ng developed Picare, a healthcare matching platform built with Flutter and Google Machine Learning to help elderly people in Hong Kong. Users will be able to use the app to research, schedule, and pay caregivers directly through the app.

“Our community hosted several workshops ranging from design thinking to coding techniques. This boosted our development by introducing us to various state-of-the-art technologies, such as Machine Learning and Cloud computing, which helped us reach our development goals.”

8. Shareapy - Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam

Vo Ngoc Khanh Linh, Tran Lam Bao Khang, Nguyen Dang Huy, and Nguyen Thanh Nhan built Shareapy: a digitized support group app created with Android that helps bring people together who share similar problems regardless of their age, gender, religion, financial status, etc. After conducting an extremely rigorous user testing phase, this team had the chance to see all that TensorFlow and Firebase could do.

“My team loves Firebase so much. One of our team members now uses it to help do some of his homework problems.”

9. Capstone - Midlands State University, Zimbabwe

Victor Chinyavada, Marvellous Humphery Chirunga, and Lavender Zandile Tshuma started Capstone, a service hosted on the Google Cloud Platform that aims to combat plagiarism among students, authors, and researchers. In particular, the technology aims to develop more effective algorithms that will incorporate the latest in big data, artificial intelligence, and data mining. As a team, the group bonded over applying technologies from Google to their project, but their real takeaway was working together to solve problems.

“To submit our project on time, we started all night hackathons, which helped us finish all of our work while having fun and getting to know each other better.”

10. MiCamp - Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, India

Praveen Agrawal built MiCamp, an Android app that holds all the info students from his campus need. Features include a calendar with upcoming campus events, student profiles, a used book marketplace, hostel management, online food ordering, and more. As a team of one, Praveen needed to speed up his development, so he applied his new knowledge of Flutter to finish.

“I’d heard of technologies like Flutter, but never used them until joining DSC; they inspired us to use those technologies, which really improved my solution.”

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Want to learn more about Developer Student Clubs? Join a club near you, here and stay tuned for our upcoming virtual Solution Challenge Demo Day on August 26th, here.