EEE Team a finalist in the World Federation of Engineering Organizations Hackathon

04 Mar 2023

EEE team emerged as one of the 12 finalists in the World Federation of Engineering Organizations Hackathon. World Engineering Day was started by UNESCO to celebrate engineers and engineering, and improve public understanding of how engineering and technology are central to modern life and for sustainable development.

The 2023 theme was “Engineering innovation for a more resilient world”. The team participated in the “Good Health & Well-Being” Challenge. They proposed their solution entitled “Stille Rest”. It is a noise cancellation speaker that uses a transducer to create a sound wave that cancels out the original sound, effectively reducing the volume of noise that is heard by the user. The speaker is designed to project outwards in all directions to neutralise unwanted sounds where needed. The speaker is portable, with a USB Type-C Port for charging. Additionally, it has a rubber top and base, making it resistant to drops and is shaped like a roly-poly so that it remains upright even if it is accidentally knocked over.

Individuals such as urbanites and noise-sensitive individuals, for example people with hearing loss or tinnitus, people with autism, and people with sleep disorders could potentially benefit from this speaker. In addition, the speaker could also be of use to organisations such as HDB and community meditation centres for which noise generated by neighbours constitute a substantial part of complaints. The team also envisages the speaker to benefit animals - nocturnal and aquatic animals have adapted to using calls at certain frequencies to identify things but noise pollution could damage their hearing. Besides, many animals use certain calls to attract mates, but with noise pollution, the calls are not as effective as their range shrinks. Installing such a speaker within the vicinities of these animals could preserve their population.

Moving forward, the team hopes to work with company such as Silentium, which developed unique ANC technology, to create a prototype for the speaker.

Details of the students are as follows: