UP Diliman students finalists in Indra Future Minds

MANILA, Philippines - The University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman will represent the Philippines in the final phase of the second edition of Indra Future Minds, an international university competition, sponsored by Indra, the premier IT company in Spain and a leading multinational in Europe and Latin America.

Winners of the competition will be given the opportunity to join Indra in the subsidiary of the country of the student’s choice upon completion of the student’s degree, with a travel allowance every month for one year.

The UP Diliman team consists of Erwin Soleta, taking up Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering (BS ECE), Maria Katrina Volante, also a BS ECE student, and Benedict Ivan Andrade, taking up Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering.

Indra Future Minds started with a virtual phase last Feb. 15, ending last March 15. During this period, two teams of different countries worked together using an online platform to come up with a proposal for the challenge assigned to them, and a video showcasing their proposal.

The teams have to solve different challenges based on real projects of Indra, for example, the design of a cloud computing solution, the design of a simulator to optimise water management, or a project involving unmanned vehicles (UAVs).

The UP Diliman team teamed up with students from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Telecos of Spain, under the team name AEOLUS. Their team was assigned to work on a project for the implementation of the UAV Pelicano, the unmanned aircraft system being developed by Indra. The two universities worked together to propose an innovative solution for an automatic landing system for the unmanned aircraft.

Two groups (four university teams in total) were then chosen to compete during the final phase. Together with UP Diliman and UPM Telecos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) - Industriales (from Spain) and Facultade de Tecnologia de Sao Paulo from Brazil were chosen to compete in the finals phase to be held in Madrid, from April 26-27, 2012. Indra will sponsor travel and lodging expenses, with each student in the finals receiving an iPad as well.

The chosen groups will compete on site and will be organised into their original university teams. They will again have to solve challenges related to Indra’s projects. The team with the best solution will be chosen by a panel of judges as the winner of the competition.

The videos produced during the first phase are now uploaded in Indra’s website. Viewers of the uploaded videos can then vote for their favorite teams or preferred solutions. The voting period will last up to April 25, 2012. The team with the video having the most numbered of votes will receive a special prize.

You may vote for the video of the UP Diliman team (under Team AEOLUS) in this link: http://www.indracompany.com/en/tu-carrera-en-indra/videos/aeolus-0. All you need is a valid email address to submit a vote.