The Innovatiecluster Drachten organized the Inventor's Competition for the second time last Tuesday together with the municipality. The assignment was: design a product that has a stress-reducing effect. Thirteen entries competed for the main prize of € 3000. The jury unanimously chose the FlexInSole from a group of students from Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen. The FlexInSole is an insole that measures the heart rate via the foot reflex and can thus let the user know how high the stress level is. The required battery charges during walking due to the heat and friction that is created. The user can then learn what to do about a too high stress level via an accompanying app, according to the six of Bastiaan Rijsenbrij, Ingrid Schuiten, Ivan Milovamovic, Jennifer Yang, Bart Schot and Stenz Bandringa. The jury found that concept complete and useful in everyday life.

The second prize (€ 2000) went to Diane Betoux of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences. She developed a Breathing Box to learn to breathe more regularly. The third prize (€ 1000) went to Esther Kakes (also Windesheim University of Applied Sciences). She developed a "Healphone" that stimulates pressure points on the head and neck and thus helps to solve pain.

The Inventor's Competition provided dozens of students with inspiration to show how new techniques can be part of everyday life. They enthusiastically shared it with the audience present. Groups of students from Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Stenden University of Applied Sciences from Emmen, HIT Assen and the University of Groningen took part. You will find a photo impression of the day here.

2014 Inventor Competition winners (Photo: Erna van der Wijk)