Outstanding inventions in IT, health, sciences and technologies and environment have been honoured at the Vietnamese Talent Awards 2016 which was held on November 19 evening in Hanoi.

The first awards presented at the ceremony were prizes to promote talents proposed by the Vietnam Study Promotion Association. The awards aimed to encourage individual study and research to create products of benefit for the society.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and former chairman of the Vietnam Study Promotion Association Nguyen Manh Cam, and Mr Ta Huu Thanh from Jetstar Pacific Airlines Joint Stock Aviation Company announced four winning products. Each prize is worth VND30m.

The four winning products included:

1. Recycled waste shrimp feed maker and insect catching machine by Dinh Van Son.

Son was born in 1960, Long An Province. He is a farmer and a mechanic and has successfully used agricultural waste to make shrimp feed. The feed can last longer in the water, is cheaper and minimises environmental pollution by keeping the pond water clean. It has already proved popular with businesses.

The insect catching machine is chemical free and instead uses a vacuum. The machine works via remote control within a 100-metre radius.

2. Corn kernel separator, can crusher, multi-functional cutter, life, bamboo shoot cutter and fish descaler by Van Duc Huynh.

Huynh was born in 1963 in Quang Tri Province. He is a self-taught mechanic. His inventions have already received the praise of the prime minister and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The corn kernel separator improves productivity, and the can crushes makes packaging easier, while the cutter improves productivity during harvest. His inventions already help lots of people.

3. Silk yarn bobbin winder by Tran Huy Quang.

Born in 1985 in Ha Nam Province, Quang graduated high school. His bobbin winder can be used by families and businesses as its capacity is six to 40 times higher than a manual bobbin winder.  It also contributes to the development of local crafts.

His machine retails at VND1.7 m and he has sold around 4,000 units in Vietnam. Quang has opened his own factory and employs 200 people.

4. Medical waste incinerator by Trinh Dinh Nang.

Trinh Dinh Nang was born in 1957 in Bac Kan Province. His work has been praised for being environmentally-friendly. His invention and utility solutions have been patented by the National Office of Intellectual Property. Nang has established his own factory.

His incinerator saves 80% on fuel costs and has cut costs to just VND5,000 per kilo of waste.

In Science and Technology field, Professor Dang Vu Minh, chairman of Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations and Mr Bui Trung Kien from An Binh Bank presented prize to a project to upgrade, design, manufacture and synchronise a can filling and sealing assembly line by M.S Tran Van Ha from the Huong Sen Group JSC.

The line has capacity to complete 50,000 cans per hour. Its simple design can be manufactured with local materials. The line costs just VND34bn, 75% less than a VND120bn imported alternative.

The project was the winner of the Vietnam Scientific and Technological Innovation Awards last year.

In Medicine field, Minister of Health, Professor Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and Mr Nguyen Xuan Cuong from Eco Pharmaceuticals presented the second prize worth VND50m to the research and application of single incision and natural orifice transluminal laparoscopic and endoscopic surgery in colorectal cancer by a group of scientists at Hue Central Hospital.

Former President and head of Vietnam Study Promotion Fund Nguyen Thi Doan and Mr Dao Minh Tuan from Vietcombank award the first prize in Medicine worth VND100m, to the research and application of stem cells in the treatment of blood diseases by a group led by Professor Nguyen Anh Tri, head of National Institute of Haematology & Blood Transfusion.

Every year, one of the most anticipated categories is the announcements of the winners of the IT awards.

The first prize for Applied Products on Mobile Devices category was presented by Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue and VNPT Chairman Tran Manh Hung to the Monkey Junior by Early Start Company. This is a foreign language teaching programme for four to ten-year-old children with a huge audio-visual collection.

 Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue and VNPT Chairman Tran Manh Hung presented the first prize for Applied Products on Mobile Devices category to the Monkey Junior by Early Start Company.

The first prize for Promising IT Products category was presented by Nguyen Thien Nhan, member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Politburo and chairman of the Fatherland Front of Vietnam and Minister of Information and Communication Truong Minh Tuan to SMCC - The semantic analysis system and social networks interactive management by InfoRe JSC. The system will collect and analyse the information on social networks. It has all the functions of software as a service and deep learning technology to deal with Vietnamese texts.

Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh and Ms. Duong Thi Mai Hoa from VinGroup announced two second prizes and presented the awards cups and logos to the two winners:

1. Tripi.vn - Vietnam's first tourism trading floor by the Tourism Technology Development Joint Stock Company. Tripi uses data to automatically recommend tourism packages for customers.

2. MobilePOS by Vietnam mPOS Technology JSC: The mobile phone application enables businesses to effectively accept credit and debit card payments at all banks in Vietnam.

Vice chairman of the Vietnam Study Promotion Association, Pham Tat Dong and and Mr Tran Minh Son from Sun Group provided awards for third-placed finishers to two following products:

1. A comprehensive solution for surveillance camera by VP9 Vietnam JSC. The cameras can provide clear images for onsite security surveillance.

2. And an environment monitoring network for agriculture and fisheries by Farmtech Vietnam Company. Networking technology is used to aggregate data from various locations.

Pham Huy Hoan, Editor-in-chief of Dan Tri/DTiNews and head of the Vietnamese Talent Awards Organising Board and Nguyen Van Tan, deputy director of VNPT-Media presented the promising start-up awards worth VND30 million to the Hachi-Smart Agriculture project by Dang Xuan Truong, Vu Thanh Dat, Hoang Thi Yen Mai, Nguyen Van Quan, Dang Van Hien and Nguyen Thi Xuan. This is a smart hydroponic system uses LED lighting and smart sensors via mobile phones in urban agriculture.

Pham Huy Hoan, Editor-in-chief of Dan Tri/DTiNews and head of the Vietnamese Talent Awards Organising Board presented the promising start-up awards

Two Consolation prizes in IT were given to Piiship Transport Network by Piiship.com Transportation JSC which connects thousands of drivers with individual customers or firms that need low-cost and speedy shipping; and the one-door interconnection system by VNPT IGate, by VNPT Tien Giang Province’s Centre of Information and Technology. The product helps individuals and organisations to complete administrative procedures, and automatically update information about the process.

The Vietnamese Talent Awards, which was initiated by the Vietnam Study Promotion Association and co-organised by VNPT, Vietnam Television and Dantri/DTiNews online newspaper, was first held in 2005 and have become an annual event.

This year's event saw the participation of the Politburo member and President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, former Deputy Prime Minister and former chairman of the Vietnam Study Promotion Association Nguyen Manh Cam, vice State President and Chairman of Vietnam Study Promotion Association Nguyen Thi Doan, Prof. Dr. Dang Vu Minh, Head of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, and Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh.

The ceremony featured the involvement of donors, scientists and more than 190 candidates in the final round.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Tran Dai Quang, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Politburo member, Executive Secretary of Secretariat of the Central Committee Dinh The Huynh, and Politburo member, Chairman of the Party's Central Commission for Propaganda and Education Vo Van Thuong sent flower bouquets to the event.

 

In his opening ceremony speech, Editor-in-chief of Dan Tri/DTiNews, Pham Huy Hoan, who is head of the Organising Board expressed appreciation to the Party, State and Government for their continued support for the awards over the last 11 years.

 Editor-in-chief of Dan Tri/DTiNews, Pham Huy Hoan, who is head of the Vietnamese Talent Awards Organising Board speaks at the awards ceremony on November 19 evening

"The Vietnamese Talent Awards was first held in 2005 to honour inventions in IT and then expanded to many other fields including health, sciences and technologies, environment, and talents promotion," Hoan said. "For the past 11 years, the Vietnamese Talent Awards have become a launch pad for young people, start-up companies and groups. This year we've received a total of 260 entries from various countries including Japan, New Zealand, and Canada."