A team of students from Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES), namely Electrical and Electronic Engineering student Lew Yanzhe, and Mechatronics Engineering students Tan Xuan Qing, Teoh Jia Jing and Chua Kai Wei won third place at the annual IEEE Innovation Nation Malaysia (IEEE INM) Techno-preneurship Bootcamp 2022, held virtually from 1 August 2022 till 17 December 2022. They were under the mentorship of Faculty of Creative Industries (FCI) academic Dr Aloysius Yapp, and Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES) academics Dr Hau Lee Cheun and Assoc Prof Dr Tee Yee Kai.

The competition saw sixteen other teams from universities all around West Malaysia. Hosted by the Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia), the competition aimed to inspire innovation and determine young inventors’ creativity and knowledge.

“The entry submitted for the competition must be based on any Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) discipline and the entry’s content must address at least one or both SDG 3 and SDG 9 goals. UTAR team’s invention, namely PerceiVein, was in line with SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being because it aimed to achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection; access to quality essential healthcare services; access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all,” said Dr Hau.

UTAR team enthused, “Venipuncture is one of the most common medical practices. However, incorrect needle insertion during venipuncture has brought additional expenses to the medical system, which resulted in a low efficient medical routine. Thus, the award-winning project titled ‘What the Health’ by our team brought about the invention of PerceiVein, a portable and low-cost yet effective vein finder and projection device to ease medical practitioners or users during venipuncture. PerceiVein projects the veins pattern on the patient’s forearms using near-infrared (NIR) light technology. It was developed using a Raspberry Pi integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, machine vision, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).”

The team also explained the social impact of PerceiVein, saying, “The fear of failure in needle injection will lead to the resistance of blood donation. Thus, a device like PerceiVein could boost the public’s confidence towards blood donation because the injection can now be done safely and precisely. Additionally, it also increases the injection accuracy and reduces the pain patients suffer.”

The team shared, “We underwent a month of external training and coaching with a senior design engineer from Intel Malaysia, Ms Tye Kit Fei. Moreover, we displayed great strength in developing the prototype and preparing for the competition. Even though we are from an engineering background, the competition enabled us to learn about marketing, funding, business model, et cetera.  We also understood that a technical product will not be contributed to society if the business is done well.”

 “We are grateful to receive the award and want to thank all who have contributed to the research and development of PerceiVein. Besides, it would not be possible without the continuous support from UTAR, particularly LKC FES and FCI, for the funding as well as the opportunity to materialise our idea,’’ added Dr Hau with gratitude to UTAR on behalf of the team and other mentors. The team also expressed their gratitude to Dr Aloysius, Dr Hau, and Dr Tee for their support as well as continuous technical advice, funding, and networking opportunities.

UTAR team participated and won the competition for the first time. Apart from winning third place, the team also graduated as “IEEE Innovation Nation Fellow” and received a digital badge (usable in their social profiles such as LinkedIn), a transcript, a certificate and a cash prize. Previously, the team also managed to successfully reach the semifinals of Pertandingan Usahawan Inovasi Piala Menteri Pengajian Tinggi 2022 (the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) Cup), overcoming many teams nationwide.

For more details about the competition, please visit the IEEE Innovation Nation Malaysia Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/IEEEINM)