A group of HCMUT students, Trịnh Quốc Anh (left), Nguyễn Trần Quang Khải (middle), and Võ Phi Long (right), are awarded the First Prize in 2016 Smart Water Innovation Contest.

Derived from the fact that there is still 30% clean water leaking out during the process of supplying water in Ho Chi Minh City, the three students studying Electrical – Electronics Engineering, namely Trịnh Quốc Anh, Nguyễn Trần Quang Khải, Võ Phi Long, has an idea for designing an application that can detect water sources dripping.

Talking about this program, Quoc Anh stated “Usually, when people see water dripping, they ignore it because they don’t know who to report to and the process of reporting also complex and time-consuming. The feature of this program is its convenience, simplicity, and efficiency”.

The operation mechanism is quite simple, when users notice of water leaking, they just open the app, locate their place and send the information to the Central Office. With the support of GPS, the recipients will responsible for analyzing to track down exactly where’s the water dripping and have solutions promptly.

However, studying the idea and making it practical is not as easy as pie. The group of three students had difficulties in collecting data about the water system which is very time-consuming and improving the accuracy of the GPS. The group kept pondering over positioning accurately not only in a small region but also in bigger ones such as parks, schools… And they were successful much more than what they had expected that the precision rate can be up to 80%.

The judges were deeply impressed by the group with the high feasible application. Then, they announced that the application was chosen to be the best application of the contest. Phi Long shared “We were quite astounded that we won the First Prize of the competition. We are so much deep in happiness that our ideas are recognized and we hope that it would help a lot in saving water by reducing water leaking, especially in the circumstances of water shortage which is also the stress that the globe is facing”.

CREATIVITY ARISING FROM SIMPLE THINGS

The three students had been failed many times to science creative competitions. However, their passion for science keeps them moving forward, studying new things and continuing with the creations. From the group’s point of view, creations of useful things are not too hard for students. They can start by learning from their surroundings, finding what need to be improved or replaced. Although it could be a small one, it should have considerable effects. It’s very important to make the most of the subjects we study into the research and reality application.

Quốc Anh said that the contest was about water which they don’t have much knowledge and experience in water resources management as they were studying Electrical & Electronics. Other students may think it would be our disadvantages or even obstacles, but they decided to approach the issue with the views of students having nothing much of water. By this way, they gained more confidence to carry out their research.

Getting along well with each other is also a key point to success. They are partners from the very first year in the university, thus they understand each other’s personalities, and work fittingly with each other. “When anyone has ideas, just let it discussed and developed or passed by. If we find some related materials, we will share within the group and that’s how the application formed.” – Phi Long revealed.

When it comes to creativity, the three guys were delightful that they had received good responses and feedbacks from the jury. The professionals expressed that this application should be on display as soon as possible to reduce the water leaking. Dr. Phil Graham – an international professional in Climate and Water, a member of the jury, praised the team “This is a simple idea but can be widely spread from an app on mobile phones. The ideas were made with a lot of efforts and creativity from the youth of Vietnam”.

Water Leak Detection Application on mobile phones is a great idea; however, in order to put this app into practice needs a certain capital. The team is looking for investment or sponsorship from organizations in order for the app to be applied widely soon and help protect limited water resources in Vietnam specifically and the globe generally.

In the time ahead, the group will continue to study & develop the app multi-functionally, detecting leaks of other resources such as electricity, gas, etc. to minimize daily risks for the sakes of good lives.