After taking home two out of four awards at the event last month, Team Anaphero’s Ciara O’Reilly reflects on the momentous experience.
Celebrations rang high at Huawei’s Seeds for the Future Tech4Good global final in China last month, as Ireland’s Team Anaphero claimed a top three position for its innovative project.
The team of five Irish students – who were unknown to each other prior to the tech entrepreneurship programme – had advanced to the global final after previously being crowned European champions for their project, which focused on developing a wearable device that detects anaphylaxis in children and instantly alerts parents and on-site caregivers.
Speaking to SiliconRepublic.com, team representative and Dublin City University student Ciara O’Reilly said that her teammate Tiarnan O’Rourke had initiated the project after arriving at the competition “with a passion to change how children and parents manage severe food allergies”. O’Rourke has faced life-threatening reactions and severe allergy anxiety all of his life, she explained.
The team – which also included Dylan Hussain, Luke O’Sullivan and Eoin Creavin – combined its collective skills in engineering, physics, computer science, app development and AI to propose the wearable device.
As explained by O’Rourke last August, the team’s device utilises advanced physiological sensors to detect allergic reaction symptoms, monitoring key physiological indicators such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels and skin responses.
The device also leverages 5G connectivity and AI models for real-time analysis and connectivity.
“The current standard of care is to wait until physical symptoms show – shortness of breath, skin rash – which can take from five minutes to one hour,” said O’Reilly. “We predict that the device will be able to detect and alert in under a minute; giving back the crucial time that saves lives.”
Having proved their project’s potential at the regional competition, Team Anaphero travelled to China last month and participated in the four-day Tech4Good Accelerator Camp in Beijing and Shenzhen, where the students availed of 10 hours of offline coaching and mentoring sessions.
“Over these four days, we worked day and night on our project and were given expert mentorship for crucial components such as prototyping, market analysis and device testing,” said O’Reilly. As well as this, the students were also given the opportunity to immerse themselves in Chinese culture and observe digital development in the cities.
At the competition’s final event in Shenzhen, Team Anaphero and 11 other teams set up project exhibitions and pitched to a panel of five judges made up of industry leaders and CEOs.
“The competition was tough, and I don’t doubt that we will see the other teams achieving amazing success after the programme,” said O’Reilly.
After a voting session involving more than 60 students and industry experts, Team Anaphero claimed its first victory of the night – the People’s Choice Award.
Moments afterward, the five Irish students were called back up on stage to receive the Global Bronze Award. All in all, the team ended up with two out of the four awards up for grabs.
A trip to remember
As part of their momentous prize, Team Anaphero’s trip to China was extended to accommodate visits to two other cities – Hangzhou and Shanghai – where the students visited Huawei campuses and the headquarters of local companies such as Rednote.
“Both cities were extraordinary, a highlight was the boat tour on the West Lake in Hangzhou with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. The community that was built during the experience was incredible and I’m sure that we have made friends for life.”
Reflecting on the trip and her overall experience of the Seeds for the Future programme, O’Reilly said she was grateful not only for the rich cultural experience, but also the opportunity to observe “some of the most advanced technological ecosystems in the world”.
Most of all, though, she championed the development process and the experience of collaboration.
“From the experience, we can take away not only what we learned about technology and entrepreneurship, but what we learned about each other – how diverse perspectives can push ideas further, and how collaboration can turn good ideas into great ones.”
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