By Hollie Younger / Staff writer, with CNA
Taiwanese inventors yesterday took home a record 24 gold medals at the Silicon Valley International Inventions Festival (SVIIF) in California, with Taiwanese students who designed the app “AllerDetect Go,” an AI-powered allergen detection system, winning the top prize in the youth talent competition.
The event, which advertises itself as the world’s premier invention and innovation festival, was held from Friday last week until yesterday in Santa Clara, California, showcasing more than 1,000 innovations and gathering creators from more than 30 countries.
Taiwanese inventors won 24 gold medals, the highest count for Taiwan since it first participated in 2018, plus eight silver medals and one bronze across 35 entries in the general inventors and youth categories.
Photo: CNA
“Taiwan had quite a few great innovations,” Matt Nuccio, a SVIIF board committee member, said.
Among the winners were Kang Chiao International School student Hsu Ting-wei (許庭維), aged just 10, who took home a gold medal and the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA) best invention award for his “Novel Artificial Electronic Nose.”
The device is an intelligent, non-contact security screening platform that combines a real-time air sampling system, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and AI-based odor recognition technology.
Hsu said on Saturday that he hoped his invention could prevent pork products carrying African swine fever from entering countries and help the US stop fentanyl from entering its borders.
“We believe his invention has practical value, and it really left a very deep impression on us,” jury chairman Amin Ghafooripour said.