Seven students of the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), drawn from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Civil Engineering, have emerged second at the Enactus Nigeria National Competition and Julius Berger Innovation Challenge held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The national competition brought together 18 Enactus teams from 27 universities across Nigeria, with the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) emerging first, UNICROSS placing second and the University of Calabar (UNICAL) coming third.
Representing Team Enactus UNICROSS, the students impressed the judges with their innovative project, B.U.D.D.Y. (Built-in UHF Detection & Defense for You), an intelligent Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) compliance system designed to improve safety in the workplace.
B.U.D.D.Y. combines Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered computer vision to identify workers, verify their registered safety equipment and monitor, in real time, whether the required PPE is being worn correctly.
The innovation provides an intelligent approach to workplace safety by addressing one of the major challenges in industrial environments: ensuring that workers consistently use the appropriate protective equipment.
The seven UNICROSS students who pitched the innovation at the national competition in Lagos are:
– Donald Oliver – Civil Engineering, 400-level
– William Mfon-Abasi – Civil Engineering, 300-level
– Effiom Johnpaul Oliver – Electrical/Electronic Engineering, 400-level
– Kingsley Ugochukwu – Electrical/Electronic Engineering, 400-level
– Ntongha Udumo – Mechanical Engineering, 400-level
– Blessing Aniedi Okon – Mechanical Engineering, 400-level
– Odey Roberta – Mechanical Engineering, 400-level
The remarkable performance has been attributed to the creativity, dedica