Contest Winners of The Challenge: Data Reimagined

​​​​​​​​​​​​The Challenge: Data Reimagined contest came to an end in a particularly impressive final event!

The competition was initiated by the Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management (GGFBM), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

The final event, which took place at Intel Israel on June 20, 2018, marked the finale of this year's Challenge student contest events, which began in December 2017. This competition is an open innovation platform that enables global organizations to challenge students through applied contests in the field. Beyond the important experience for the students, it also enables The Challenger organizations (this time, Intel Israel) to be exposed to innovative and creative proposals by students from a variety of fields of study. Students team up, or go solo, to pitch their ideas to The Challenger in a series of contest events. 

The competition presented an unconventional way of connecting academia and industry, when the challenge was presented this time by none other than Intel Israel! Intel has challenged students from across the country to present directions in which they believe the world of Data Science can lead to a positive social impact. 

Student response to the challenge was enormous! 110 teams from 17 different academic institutions submitted ideas and it was amazing to see what entrepreneurial spirit among Israeli students. Of the eight finalists, a panel of judges comprised of Intel executives, Ben-​Gurion University of the Negev and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, selected four winning teams. 

First place winners were Noy Goldhammer and Lilach Barkat (Biomedical Engineering students at BGU) with the BmyEyes project, a sensor technology for vision-impaired pedestrians based on Intel's autonomous car technology implementation. With a sensor placed on a belt to describe the user's surroundings, the product will alarm the user before encountering dangers, such as cars, traffic lights, stairs and other obstacles. In addition, the product will act as a navigator; the user will have the option to select a destination and the product will guide them through an unfamiliar area. The judges were impressed not only with the idea, but also with how the team presented itself with a high level of creative thinking. 

Yaron Ardestani, Erez Negawker, Shai Geva, Vitaly Telman and Natanel Shlomi (MBA students in the GGFBM Department of Business Administration) placed second with their outstanding project Hear U, an AI system based on big data that will accurately and quickly diagnose pneumonia, using the sound of patients' breathing to diagnose and characterize the problem without actually taking pictures and scans, save lives and resources. 

Two ventures won third place: Shahar Mazie (HUJI student of Computer Science and Biology) created Green Light to fight traffic jams with the help of a network of intelligent traffic lights through image processing. At any given time, a few cars pass through a traffic light, often causing major traffic jams. Smart traffic lights solve this problem by adjusting to traffic flow dynamically and in real time. Such a system is precisely the medium that can bridge between reality today and the future world in which cars will self-drive. Shani Vertlib (GGFBM Management BA student) formed Smart Fridge to help users make smart purchases and thus prevent over-spending and the creation of unnecessary waste. It sets a warning before products expire to ensure their consumption, and even sends recipes to help, as well as messages to improve purchasing patterns, thus improving the environment as well as our budgets. 

The first three places were awarded with financial prizes: first place - NIS 12,000, second place - NIS 10,000, third place - NIS 8,000 

See full description of the contest and the exciting, innovative proposals here.

Prof. Oded Lowengart, GGFBM Dean and Chair of the Bengis Center, commented: “This is the second Challenge competition held with growing success and acclaim. Students from diverse fields team up to create and market their dream start-ups. The ingenuity of the Challenge Competitions attracts major corporations like Intel Israel and Mercedes Israel to tackle the Challenge, support the contest, and win the latest trailblazing ideas of the great young minds of our students. We invite you to follow our next Challenge in the coming academic year." 

The Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management GGFBM serves as a platform for Israeli business leadership, with a rare combination of academic degree programs, and is committed to corporate, social and environmental responsibility, which responds to the challenges of local and global business development in all sectors. 

The Bengis Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has become an essential component in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation both in the Negev and throughout the country. The Center manages to channel academic expertise in a practical way for both the business and public sectors. The Bengis Center maintains an unrivaled variety of local and international activities and enhances its reputation as the leading institution in Israel.