Six university students from across South Africa have been awarded cash prizes by Vodacom for creating unique app ideas.
The Vodacom Developer Programme (VDP) brought together academics and students from sevenSouth African universities – Durban University of Technology, Central University of Technology, University of Venda, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Vaal Technology University, North West University and Stellenbosch University.
Prins Mhlanga, Managing Executive of Digital Media at Vodacom, said: “We work closely with the academic institutions to prepare student developers for participation in the mobile app industry so they can develop innovative apps that can transform society. With the types of app ideas submitted in this competition, there’s no doubt that these students have a potential to reshape our future,”
Thirteen university students participated in this competition. Each student submitted an app idea which forms part of their academic projects.
The competition had categories for undergraduate and post-graduate students.
In the postgraduate category, the first prize went to Cainos Mukandatsana from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University for designing My Pill Reminder app. This Android app will remind elderly people with chronic conditions to take their medication,using sound and vibrations as well as visual cues.
Second prize was awarded to Luxolo Tombela from Durban University of Technology for designing the Emergency Call app. It helps people acquire contact details of hospitals by using voice recognition, GPSand an internet connection to call the hospital in case of an emergency.
Third prize went to Arne Esterhuizen, of Stellenbosch University, for coming up with The Cropviewer which can assist in assessing the water use efficiency of irrigated crops.
In the undergraduate category first prize went to Stefan Bergh, from North-West University, for designing a puzzle 2D game app named Polygraph.
Second prize was awarded to Martin Stolk, from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, for designing Mallcrawl app which automatically logs the user into their Facebook account to search nearby malls using Google Maps.
Third prize went to Darky Matsane, from Vaal University of Technology, for coming up with Pressed In Time, which provides customers with convenience for all their laundry and dry cleaning needs, using an automated and paperless solution to book in laundry.
Cash prizes for the top three in each category ranged from R5,000 (US$560) to R20,000 (US$2,250).
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University was named as the best performing institution and won R30,000 (US$3,350) to be invested in their computer labs.
For more information about the Vodacom Developer Programme click here.
