Students offer smart solutions to run business

The solutions were submitted at the recently held Smart India Hackathon

From tracking products in a supply chain to screening candidates for clinical trials accurately, college students across Mumbai have come up with technology-driven ideas to improve businesses.

Team from Shah & Anchor Kutchhi Engineering College, Chembur, which won the competition. (HT Photo)

The solutions were submitted at the recently held Smart India Hackathon at Prin LN Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research (WIMDR), Matunga. Participants said they learnt a great deal about developing solutions in such a short span.

A team of students from Shah & Anchor Kutchhi Engineering College, Chembur, developed a computer programme that can speed up the process for testing medicines before their launch.

The programme uses an algorithm to match the people who are willing to volunteer for a clinical trial. It analyses factors such as a volunteer’s medical history, type of trial, number of trials and their success rate.

“People are reluctant to participate in clinical trials because of the side-effects. Our goal was to increase participation and generate better results from laboratories,” said Viraj Modi, one of the students.

Teams from WIMDR and Don Bosco Institute of Technology (DBIT), Kurla, worked towards digitising supply chain management system. They suggested using barcodes and QR codes on products to track them by manufacturers, retailers and suppliers.

“The current system of returning expired products by retailers to companies is manual and slow,” said Vipul Bhole, a student from WIMDR.

Another team from WIMDR proposed enhancement of customer experience at large retail shops. It suggested 3D hologram promotion of various products at the stores. The team also proposed installing a touch screen to provide information about various products.

“Before finding a solution, we had to understand what kind of customers visit the store. We also learnt what companies mean by customer service,” said Alekhya Susarla, one of the students.