26 June 2023
VU is well represented with 12 pre-finalists at the Amsterdam Science & Innovation Award (AmSIA), the Amsterdam competition for innovative ideas that contribute to a better world. Topics that you will see this year are most definitely novel uses of AI, for instance in academia and in health, clever notions on how to deal with the effects of climate change, inspiring solutions in medical care technology, ideas about solving mental health issues, and innovative plans for improving education.
All 28 pre-finalists of the Amsterdam Science & Innovation Award have a chance to take the stage at NEMO and win one of three prizes each €10,000 in the categories: Society, Health and Environment & Climate.
In the coming months, all pre-finalists will showcase their idea through a personal video. The expert jury, chaired by Ruben Brave, together with the public decide which finalists will present their idea during the finals on 21 November at the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam.
The following VU participants are selected for the semi-finals.
In the categry Society:
- Pepijn van Rutten and Edcel Salumbides: Respira: a laughing gas breath sensor to reduce accidents on the road
- Emitzá Guzmán, Lauren Olson, Anna Fischer and Tom Humbert: The Best Ends by the Best Means: Bringing Ethics into Software
- Zora Wessely, Emily Vierthaler and Nina Meesters: Visualome: Visualizing Discoveries
- Lavinia Bodale, Ana-Maria Nechitelea and Evan Sutanto: SightShare
In the category Health:
- Job Calis (Amsterdam UMC) and Mark Hoogendoorn (VU): IMPALA: Innovative Monitoring system for Paediatrics in Low-resource settings: an Aid to save lives.
- Siwan Aberkane and Nikolai Manchev: PULSE – App-connected sportswear allowing athletes to monitor their body & mind, to maximise performance & avoid over-training.
- Imran Avci: Disposable, ultra-sensitive optical biosensors for early cancer diagnosis (COMB-O)
- John van der Kamp and Boris Lancelot: Rom & Lupa designed by Lentala: school furniture for active sitting
- Madalina Riurean and Sitah Heijnen: Madglove- helping people get a grasp on spasticity.
In the category Environment & Climate:
- Ana Cassanti, Shutong He and Sancha Banerjee: VU-rtual Reality for Responsible and Smart Education: the use of Virtual Reality to democratise environmental sciences teaching
- Juan Cruz Tubio and Liam Levy: MycoFarming, domesticating fungi
- Katinka Quintelier, Sjoerd Kluiving and Sabrine el Baroudi: CALS app: an app to Create, Act, Learn & Scale for sustainability