Discovery of the Year Award - First prize awarded for the development of a robotic submarine

Young people under the age of 21 won the first edition of the Discovery of the Year competition with a robot submarine, a biodegradation system, a tool to help the blind and visually impaired and the idea of recycled umbrella jackets, the company responsible for communicating the event told MTI on Thursday.

“The Discovery of the Year Award, organised for the first time, was created by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH) and Startup Campus in the framework of the InnoGEN Youth Programme to reward creative and original entries by young people aged 14-21”, the Communication states.
The discovery of the year was made by Domokos Kertész, a student of Balassi Bálint Eight-year High School, whose robotic submarine is able to monitor the quality of water in real time from a variable location. With more than two thousand votes, Balázs Antal won the public vote with his PEstroy project, which aims to create a biodegradation system that can be used to neutralise plastic waste.
András Zoltán Ravasz won the special prize of Startup Campus with his socially sensitive invention, which explores the world of reading and books for the blind and visually impaired, thus ensuring equal opportunities in the world of science.
The Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (MDDÜ) joined the initiative as a professional partner in the framework of the Vocational Training Development Support Program with the Special Award of the Fashion Industry Discovery of the Year in order to draw the attention of young people ahead of their career choices to the potential of fashion industry jobs. Students of the József Angster Vocational School and Vocational School, Alexandra Biri, Daniella Dudás and Szidónia Gosztolai, who would create raincoats by recycling umbrellas, took home the title, they said.
According to the announcement, the Discovery of the Year Award was open to 14-21 year old Hungarian youngsters from Hungary and beyond who have created something new, unique and inspiring with their innovative ideas in the fields of digitalisation, arts, science, business, sustainability or sport and health. During the competition, the Discovery of the Year, selected by the professional jury, was awarded as an absolute winner, as well as the winner of the public vote, who was chosen from ten candidates.
“The top ten young people have all come up with ideas for important social problems. Among other things, a browser extension has been created that solves the increased environmental burden caused by online purchases, but a robot has also been created that is able to detect the garbage in its environment with the help of visual learning. A talented student team developed an electric self-driving race car in the framework of the call, but a clothing brand using environmental motifs was also included among the best projects. Many of them created a new one in the field of robotics and IT, a gait monitoring device and an algorithm for calculating the outcomes of a sporting event. A candidate was also selected to enhance the English vocabulary of young people", they said.
The Discoverer of the Year won a travel voucher worth HUF 200,000 and can participate in an online course worth HUF 40,000. It is also supported by professional mentoring and press coverage. The talents who won the Fashion Industry Student Ambassador of the Year award could be enriched among the prizes with three sewing machines equipped with state-of-the-art technology for a total value of HUF 300 thousand. The prize of the winner of the public vote is participation in an online course worth forty thousand forints, professional mentoring and media appearance.
Supporting partners of the InnoGEN Youth Programme are the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH), Hiventures, Adria Port, the Intellectual Property Office and Széchenyi István University. The Women in Science Association, Future joined as a professional partner: Hungary, the Generation of Future Builders (YÉG), the Studium Generale, the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), the Transylvanian Innovation Workshop and the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency (MDDÜ).

Source: MTI