Women's team wins technology colleges innovation contest

DUBAI // Three female students who devised a four-in-one diabetes kit have beat out 44 other teams in a Higher Colleges of Technology innovation contest. The women were awarded US$20,000 (Dh73,000) for their efforts to create the D-Kit, a bilingual, multi-user device the size of a mobile phone. They also won for best undergraduate project, giving them another $5,000 in winnings.

The D-Kit combines a glucose test, a blood pressure and pulse monitor and a body-mass index test. It was designed by Dalal al Dhabyani, Salimah al Harbi and Khawla Mohammed, from the department of health science. The kit, which they hope to get endorsed by the Ministry of Health, comes with a guide available in book and DVD format. It is aimed not only at the 25 per cent of the population with diabetes, but an additional 50 per cent of people who are believed to be at risk of contracting the disease.

"We were optimistic about winning and as this affects so many people here ... we knew it was going to be popular," said Miss al Dhabyani, 22. In second place, winning $10,000, was a team of three male students behind yebab.com, a website dedicated to Emirati wedding planning. Kholoud al Hefaity took third place, and a $5,000 prize, with her plan for a women's-only cafe in Fujairah. mswan@thenational.ae