Recently, at the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (SIHUB), the Final Round of the 2026 City-level Science and Technology Innovation Competition with the theme “INNOX 2026: Breaking Boundaries – Touching the Future” took place in a vibrant and inspiring atmosphere. Gathering outstanding technological ideas from various universities and colleges across the city, this year's competition was a true convergence of creativity, innovation, and the tech-conquering spirit of the younger generation.
Surpassing hundreds of applications from the initial rounds, the top 15 outstanding projects officially advanced to the finals. Each topic was a distinct story of creativity, the result of rigorous research driven by the desire to use technology to solve real-world societal challenges. Beyond just presenting their ideas on stage, the competing teams had a valuable opportunity to directly connect with entrepreneurs, experts, and major investors, opening doors for future development and commercialization.
Building on the success of previous seasons, students from the Faculty of Information Technology once again made a powerful impression at this city-level arena. This achievement not only demonstrates solid professional competence and sharp technological mindset but also affirms the bold, innovative, and boundary-breaking spirit of our students.
Notably, the Faculty of IT maintained its peak performance, winning the Grand Prize (Championship) for the second consecutive year. This proud achievement belongs to the BrailleConnect AI project – an artificial intelligence system designed to recognize Braille from Vietnamese embossed text images, then convert it into text and speech for the deafblind and visually impaired. The project carries deep humanitarian value, contributing to enhancing information accessibility for the disabled community. The talented faces behind the success of this meaningful project are students: Tran Minh Tuong, Tran Dang Khoa, and Le Thanh Nghia – coming from the inter-university collaboration between Van Hien University and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (VNU-HCM).
In addition to the highest prize, the Faculty of IT students affirmed the depth and quality of their research projects by bringing home 03 Second Prizes and 02 Consolation Prizes. Each project brought a unique and breakthrough color:
🥈 Second Prize - AI Fashion Studio Project: Strongly impressed the judges with an AI-powered automated fashion content creation solution, helping businesses optimize next-generation communication and marketing activities. Developed by the talented student team: Nguyen Thi My Hanh, Nguyen Khat Thuan, Nguyen Huy Dien, Vo Tran Hoang Bao Khang, and Tran Truong Di (Joint team from Van Hien University & Nam Can Tho University).
🥈 Second Prize - VieGrand AI Plus Project: Focused on the healthcare sector for the elderly. The system supports early diagnosis of motor diseases while providing rapid alerts for falls and strokes. This is a highly practical solution for social security challenges in the context of an aging population, jointly implemented by Nguyen Khat Thuan and Phung Minh Khoa.
Furthermore, the creative spirit combined with community responsibility of the IT students was recognized with 02 Consolation Prizes:
🎯 Project: “Smart Fire Warning System using AI, Thermal Cameras, and Edge Computing (Edge AI)” developed by students Nguyen Thị Thanh Thao, Tang Gia Huy, and Doan Van Phuoc, aiming to enhance early fire detection and warning capabilities to protect lives and property.
🎯 Project: “FloodEye AI – Applying Artificial Intelligence on Flycams to Recognize Gestures of Victims in Floods to Support Emergency Rescue” developed by students Dang Thanh Phuc, Nguyen Van Thang, and Nguyen Minh Dao, providing a powerful support tool for rescue forces during natural disasters.
The brilliant achievements at INNOX 2026 are not only the pride of the respective project teams but also clear evidence of the training quality, dynamic learning environment, and the right direction in developing applied research at the Faculty of Information Technology. This is the sweet fruit of silent efforts, continuous learning, and the desire of students to contribute on their journey of conquering knowledge. Once again, congratulations to all the teams for successfully completing their journey at INNOX 2026. May your projects continue to be nurtured, refined, and soon spread positive values to the community, contributing to shaping the future with the power of innovation and technology!