Sunday, August 22, 2010, by Jo Caruana
Finding solutions to real issues
The team of Maltese ICT university students at the Imagine Cup in Poland.
It’s sometimes hard to envisage the tangible benefits that can come from within a computer.
More often than not, it’s the negative aspects we hear about – dangerous people stalking innocent internet users,
hours wasted on silly social media networks, and online gambling sites that target our wallets and our inability to
say no.
Well, one group of four local ICT university students recently proved there’s a lot more to it than that. In fact,
they’re busy changing the world one mouse click at a time.
The group, known as Dice, recently returned from Poland having placed among the top 12 countries in the
Imagine Cup finals, beating stiff competition from participants from another 56 countries.
The Imagine Cup encourages young people to apply their imagination, passion and creativity to technology
innovations that can make a difference in the world – today. Now in its eighth year, the competition has grown to
become a truly global event focused on finding solutions to real world issues.
Open to students from around the world, the Imagine Cup is a formidable challenge that draws serious talent,
and competition is intense. The contest spans a year, beginning with local, regional and online contests whose
winners go on to the worldwide finals held in a different location every year.
“Our project started as a university assignment,” explains Daniela Cauchi, one of the participants. “Many students
from our course chose to have a go at it. As a group we were really inspired by the idea and took the concept
very seriously.”
After much deliberation on the theme of their project, the team, which also includes Claire Dimech, Kurt Farrugia
and Stefan Lia, opted to produce a revolutionary dermatology solution that facilitates communication between
doctors in developed countries and volunteers and health care workers in less developed areas. They named it
Myderm.
“We designed an infrastructure on which this communication can be established, thus allowing necessary
knowledge to reach patients many miles away,” says Lia.
“There was a lot we had to learn, especially since we didn’t know much about the technologies we were working
with until we started implementing them. It was a steep learning curve, and we were very restricted on time
because we still had to keep up-to-date on our other subjects and assignments. But we worked around the clock
to ensure we were ready. We also had to come up to speed on dermatology, a subject we didn’t know very much
about at the time.”
The team chose dermatology because it is one of the few areas of medicine that does not require scanning
devices such as X-rays and ultrasounds to make a clinical examination. Often, photos and the communication of
symptoms is enough.
“Through the use of our technology, these examinations can be consulted on by doctors from developed
countries and the diagnosis relayed back to where it needs to get, allowing effective treatment to be
administered. We have contacted numerous dermatologists and doctors, and their reaction has been very
positive, so we hope to actually deploy the system in the near future.
“It has already been an incredible journey and we hope to achieve much more with this technology, both for our
own careers and the many patients worldwide who could benefit from it.”
Having wowed a panel of local businessmen and IT experts, the team flew to Poland, where they were required
to promote both Malta and their product over the course of the week-long event. The Malta Tourism Authority
sponsored a number of items for Dice’s stand, but the team had to put together presentations on Myderm and
Malta themselves.
“Being there was incredible,” says Dimech. “Microsoft turns the Imagine Cup into a mega media event, so we had
to talk to the international press and promote our work on a grand scale. We also presented Myderm, twice, to
the international panel of judges and were thrilled to make it to the final 12. We would have loved to go all the
way and win, but I think we did Malta proud, as we felt at par with our competitors and believe our product can
actually work in the real world.”
Microsoft is a big supporter of events like the Imagine Cup; aside from funding the software required to craft
technology such as Myderm, it also creates, spearheads and sponsors the event locally and overseas.
“Everything the world may someday become lies in the hands of young people today,” explains Karl DaviesBarrett, from Microsoft Malta. “As they look at the road ahead, their close relationship with technology enables
them to dream in ways we never have before. These youngsters have put Malta on the map and in the spotlight
of the world,” Mr Davies-Barrett added.
Describing the experience in Poland, Dimech said, “It was exciting to see, first hand, the difference technology
can make. For instance, the winning team, which was from Thailand, developed a system that transposes voice
into sign language, and we saw it in action.”
However, it was the team that placed third that impressed her most. “They used radio waves to send data from
one laptop to another. This would be incredibly useful in countries where internet is not readily available, as
children in many developing countries have been given laptops but still lack a useable Wifi connection.
“As for Dice, we’re keen to take Myderm to the next level, and are looking for potential investors or medical
professionals who may be able to help us. We definitely don’t want to end this journey here.”
For more information visit www.mydermonline.com