Feb. 18, 2013 College News - Bonnie Freudinger and Brian Laning, members of the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center’s Engineering Team, recently took 3rd place out of 211 submissions in an international competition focused on innovation.
Freudinger and Laning, along with a collaborator, developed a smart phone application (app) that can be used to document mass atrocities occurring in times of crisis in real-time, encrypt the evidence, and send it to a human rights organization such as Amnesty International for future prosecution in the International Criminal Court. In addition, the app can provide real-time information to those agencies best able to respond and intervene as soon as a crisis develops.
The challenge was sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development and Humanity United. This particular challenge sought new and innovative ways to enable the documentation of relevant evidence that may be used to deter perpetrators or hold them accountable, while minimizing the risk posed to those collecting this information. The winning submissions were chosen on the basis of impact, innovation, scalability and feasibility.
The prize money will be used to establish the Biotechnology and Bioengineering Center Global Health Through Engineering Fund to seed other innovative projects.