In the autumn season of «Demola», students offer answers to current Latvian and global challenges: are universities ready to accept older students, what are the possibilities of cities to improve air and environmental quality, and how to achieve a reduction in obesity in society, especially in children. In addition, in cooperation with PLC «Valsts nekustamie īpašumi», students have found an innovative and sustainable solution for building maintenance, thereby taking care of the safety of all of us.
To achieve a reduction of childhood obesity and young people, students created an application that promotes healthy eating habits, with school youth as the target audience.
Research has shown that emphasizing the use of gaming principles is one of the most engaging ways of learning, as the application promotes healthy eating habits from an early age and provides the opportunity to spend meaningful time on smart devices.
A digital solution was also developed by a team who was tasked with understanding how to facilitate university studies for older people. For this purpose, a prototype of an internet platform was created to gather information about studies, scholarships, and other opportunities, as well as provide a platform for older people to ask specific questions and engage in an exchange of opinions with peers. To make this happen, the team is training artificial intelligence for the site.
The student team, which was looking for opportunities to improve air and environmental quality in cities, offered a new type of meeting place as a possible solution - a green, noise-proof, adaptable and movable structure called the «Meeting cave».
Meanwhile, the team that was dedicated to finding innovative and sustainable solutions for building maintenance, focused on how to ensure safe monitoring and maintenance of houses during the winter, when snow and icicles form on the roofs. The team conducted an in-depth study, selected several possible solutions, and highlighted the possibility of treating the roofs with a special coating as one of the most promising results.
The team tackled this challenge together with VAS «Valsts nekustamie ipsumi» (VNI), which has been participating in the «Demola» project for several years and cooperates with students and the academic sector to jointly find new and modern solutions.
«How to promote compliance with safety requirements at construction sites? How to effectively provide property survey to quickly eliminate potential security risks and preserve property value? During these years, students have carried out extensive research work, developed prototypes of new equipment and tested their implementation possibilities, thus helping both VNI and others involved in the real estate management and construction sectors. This Demol season is no exception, and VNĪ will see how to implement modern technologies and practical solutions in practice to ensure a safe and orderly environment» said Aija Ikstena, head of VNĪ's Corporate Communication and Sustainability Department.
«This autumn season of «Demola» again pleased us with strong, knowledgeable, and innovative students. It is a special pleasure to see that teams live with the times and existing opportunities and adapt solutions to current topics in society, both by improving the abilities of artificial intelligence to help university students choose a study program, and by taking care of the city's greenery and the overall ecosystem. Obesity in children and young people and its impact on public health in general is also an important topic to be addressed with the added value of such modern technologies. As well as joy for the team that has created innovative solutions in building surveying, and let's see what results the testing of prototypes will bring in practice. Students have the motivation, abilities, and desire to continue working on the development of their ideas, and this is always pleasing, » explained «Demol» representative Liva Stūrmane.
Students from any study program and any Latvian university in Latvia can participate in the «Demola» project. Through project participation, students can receive a monthly stipend of up to 228 euros, and a support fund for idea development of up to 2596 euros is also available. Students are provided with the support of mentors and RTU Science and Innovation Center Design Factory experts.
«Demola» is one of the activities of the ambitious «RTU Student Innovation Grants» program (ERAF co-financed project No. 1.1.1.3/21/A/005), implemented by the RTU Science and Innovation Center Design Factory to develop students' innovative thinking, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
