AdZU is 7th SWEEP Awards finalist

MANILA, Philippines - For the second straight year, a team from Ateneo de Zamboanga University (AdZU) has made it to the finals of the SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards, Smart Communications, Inc.’s (Smart) annual search for the most innovative wireless solutions to address concerns of the community. “We were jumping with joy when we learned that our ALR System was short-listed,” says team leader Seth Ryan Delos Reyes, a fifth year BS-CoE student. The ALR System stands for “Automated Load Retailer System”, a public device that automatically reloads cell phones anywhere and anytime. It is among the top ten wireless applications chosen from a total of 133 entered in the 7th SWEEP Awards. AdZU’s entry aims to address the problem regarding the availability of load retailers. The team’s ALR System makes cell phone loading available to the public 24 hours a day. The system can be conveniently located anywhere and can be as common as a telephone booth or an ATM station. And since it is automated, there’s no need for an operator. “Our system consists of an ALR System station that loads the client’s cell phone and accepts coins as payments; an ALR System server that controls and monitors the transactions of the ALR System station client modules; and a credit system module that allows consumers to acquire load through credit,” explains team spokesperson Christian Rome Jalon, fifth year BS-ECE. “We wanted to improve lives in our community by developing an application that provides a better way of implementing some of the basic things that we do, such as e-load retailing. Through the SWEEP Awards, Smart has given us an opportunity to do just that,” says Delos Reyes. This year’s competition is themed “”Empowering Communities through Wireless Technologies”. The top three winning teams will be awarded cash prizes, with corresponding grants for their schools. First prize is P500,000; second prize, P300,000; and third prize, P150,000.