Best Innovative Minds 2023 – Fostering Creativity and Innovation through Collaboration

Over the years, Best Innovative Minds has evolved into an iconic event at ASSIST Software. It unites bright minds and fosters ideas that turn into prototypes and tangible projects, where employees and students with remarkable visions test their abilities and skills.

Best Innovative Minds is an internal competition designed to give software developers, designers, and other specialists at ASSIST Software a chance to share their ideas and work together on innovative projects. These projects often undergo further development, helping communities to tackle ongoing issues. Some of them even receive national or European funding.

In 2023, ASSIST Software faced multiple challenges, but we turned them into opportunities. Our engineers successfully adapted to the new circumstances and developed innovative concepts. As a result, the 2023 BIM edition, which started on the 15th of July and ended on the 15th of December, was filled with fresh ideas that surprised the jury with their novelty and practicality. 

 

1. New Prizes and Updated Guidelines for the 2023 Edition 

We introduced three new special prizes in this year's edition to reward innovation and hard work. The first prize, called Honorable Mention: Social Entrepreneurship, is awarded for a remarkable proposal for a product or solution that helps the community or NGOs. The second prize, Honorable Mention: Scientific Research, is awarded for a great research idea on a topic suitable for research funding or writing an academic paper. The third one, Honorable Mention: Industry Disruption, is awarded for a remarkable idea for a product or solution with a great business opportunity. Each of these distinctions comes with a prize of 200 euros. 

The guidelines for the event underwent some changes in terms of teams, jury, and scoring. All participants, even those who didn't make it to the finals, had a chance to win a prize.  

Five lucky winners were drawn and received prizes ranging from 800 to 1200 euros.

 

2. Taking steps toward the final 

The first step to winning the competition is submitting an idea and a brief description.  

All concepts undergo a selection process where a panel evaluates the idea based on its potential benefits, outcomes, and usefulness and then selects the seven most suitable ones.  

The most challenging step in the competition is the implementation stage, where the teams must turn their ideas into projects or prototypes.  

 

3. Seven Finalist Teams 

The projects that made it to the final of the BIM competition were genuinely inspiring. They resulted from the hard work, dedication, and passion of some of the best ASSIST Software engineers. Their desire to provide suitable solutions materialized through these prototypes, which made it difficult for the jury to decide on the winners.

This year, the Best Innovative Minds software development teams competed for the following prizes: 

• 1st place: 1,500 €
• 2nd place: 1,000 €
• 3rd place: 700 €
• Most Disruptive Technology Award: 500 €
• ASSIST Popularity Award: 500 €

 

3.1 Life Savers – an app that addresses the blood shortage crisis – 1st prize 

• Team Members: Gabriela Șerban, Olha Lahutina, Vadym Shtefanika, Daniel Lupăștean

One of the main purposes of the Best Innovative Minds competition is to find suitable solutions for pressing issues that affect the community or society. Life Drop is an app designed to address the shortage of blood supply in transfusion centers nationwide. 

Due to a low number of donors, donation centers operating below capacity, and a high frequency of emergency medical situations requiring blood, Romania is currently facing a critical blood shortage that poses a threat to thousands of lives.

Life Drop was designed to address these challenges and aims to boost the number of donors and recurrent donors and ensure minimum blood stocks for all blood groups, including the rare ones. Additionally, it seeks to educate the population about blood donation and encourage regular contributions.

Life Drop serves as a comprehensive platform catering to both blood donors and individuals in need of blood transfusions. For donors, the app offers features such as appointment scheduling, detailed information about the donation process, eligibility criteria, potential benefits, and donation center locations.

On the other hand, those requiring blood can easily search for the specific blood type needed for themselves or their loved ones. This dual functionality enhances accessibility and convenience for both donors and recipients, facilitating the blood donation process and ensuring timely access to life-saving transfusions.

Technologies used:

• React PWA
• NestJS
• Postgres + Pinecone
• GPT 4 Turbo, Ada – 002
• AWS

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3.2 Metris – a platform that aims to shape the future of HR departments – 2nd prize 

• Team Members: Alexandru Strujac, Claudiu Filip, Alexandru Damian

Metris is a project that aims to shape the future of HR through Intelligent Data and promises to solve problems that HR departments face daily.

HR departments face significant challenges in their daily operations. According to statistics, communication with employees occupies 50% of the department's daily activities. Moreover, navigating through the overwhelming complexity of data analysis adds to the workload. Employee engagement remains low, making it difficult to keep a positive work environment.  95% of managers express dissatisfaction with current performance management systems, while 90% of HR leaders feel they lack accurate information. These issues highlight the need for strategic improvements in HR operations to enhance organizational efficiency.

Metris has developed a customized AI Engine designed for obtaining knowledge and insights easily, facilitating informed decision-making in business, specifically addressing challenges faced by HR departments. 

This product aims to revolutionize HR departments by integrating directly into existing infrastructure. Through advanced AI technology, it provides immediate insights grounded in real-time company context, enhancing decision-making processes. With an intuitive conversational system, the AI-driven chatbot for employees streamlines information retrieval and document generation, significantly reducing the workload on HR departments.

When asked about future plans regarding the project, the team leader replied: ”We have submitted the project to the Microsoft for Startups Hub as well. It has successfully passed the preselection phase and has been accepted. That means there is a high chance the project can benefit from funding and further development.”
- Alexandru Strujac 

Technologies used: 

• LLM: LangChain
• Python 
• Zephyr
• ChromDB
• Postgres

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3.3 MockedUP – a tool designed to revolutionize the way production environments are simulated – 3rd prize  

• Team Members: Vizitiu Valentin, Ștefan Paranici, Mircea Matei

MockedUP is a cutting-edge tool designed to revolutionize the way production environments are simulated. It offers users the ability to replicate their entire production environment and create databases that closely resemble the real production environment in terms of size and throughput.

Targeting professionals across various industries, MockedUP prioritizes ease of use, aiming to simplify what can otherwise be a complex and daunting process.

Unlike its competitors, which often overwhelm users with complicated interfaces and intricate features, MockedUP offers a streamlined and intuitive user experience. By eliminating unnecessary complexities, it empowers users to focus on their core tasks without getting slowed down by unnecessary details. 

Recognizing the importance of accurate and reliable simulations, the tool leverages advanced algorithms and technologies to deliver accuracy and precision. Users can trust that the simulations generated by MockedUP faithfully represent the behavior of their production environments, enabling them to make informed decisions with confidence. 

”Our tool is designed to serve a wide range of professionals across various departments and roles within organizations. Developers, project managers, DevOps engineers, CTOs, mentors, QA departments, architects, and DBAs will find value in its capabilities.”
- Ștefan Paranici 

The app enables developers to test features and products in an environment closely resembling production. Project managers can assess product states and performance before advancing development stages. DevOps and QA engineers can cut down infrastructure costs and refine their procedures by conducting tests in a simulated environment. CTOs can evaluate new tools before deploying them to production. Mentors can use it to illustrate performance issues to interns. Architects can experiment with different design versions in a large, high-throughput environment. Lastly, DBAs can use it to performance test new database alterations such as indexes, stored procedures, triggers, and calculated columns.

With its user-friendly interface, robust features, and commitment to quality, MockedUP is poised to transform the way organizations approach environment simulation and database creation.

Technologies used:

• .NET 
• Environment DB

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3.4 Mmings – an affordable data management solution – Most Disruptive Technology Award 

• Team Members: Lucian Cucoș, Tudor Albu, Paul Homiuc, Tiberiu Hurjui

Effective metadata management is essential for businesses, offering insights into operations and guiding future improvements. However, solutions can be expensive, with diverse user experiences. 

Developed by members of ASSIST Software, Mmings is a project that aims to simplify metadata management with affordable, user-friendly solutions tailored to business needs. By filling a gap in the market, the project offers solutions to augment existing platforms' data management capabilities, including data discovery augmentation, UI auto-generation, and integration with NLP and other convenient features like Google Assistant.

MmingS stands out by offering a comprehensive solution for managing personal and business data, catering to individuals and organizations alike, unlike competitors, who are focused on analytics or communication platforms for Data Analytics or Business Intelligence teams.

"Our team crafted a solution that caters to a diverse array of users. Whether you're an individual customer organizing personal data or a startup looking for seamless interaction through Google Assistant, MmingS has you covered. Small businesses can elevate operations with our AI-powered data management, while medium to large enterprises can enhance user experience with advanced data discovery features. We're here to empower every user, no matter the scale or scope of their needs."
- Lucian Cucoș

Technologies used:

• Azure Cloud
• Blazor
• .NET
• Mustache.js

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3.5 Sports Hub – sports management app – Popularity Award 

• Team Members: Matei Galațanu, Dorin Claudiu Moldoveanu, Andrei Iriciuc, Sebastian Galan, Victor Burcă

Professional athletes and novices alike crave consistency and effective progress tracking in their sports activities. However, there are not many sports apps on the market that cater to these needs.

Motivated by their passion for sports and recognizing the importance of discipline in achieving athletic goals, ASSIST Software members embarked on a journey to develop Sports Hub. They identified various challenges faced by athletes, ranging from training and recovery to nutrition and activity tracking, prompting them to create a comprehensive solution accessible to both professional athletes and beginners.

Sports Hub is an ecosystem designed to streamline sports management. By consolidating features from existing sports apps and integrating advanced data processing capabilities, Sports Hub serves as an all-in-one ecosystem for managing sports-related data. Its primary objective is to centralize factors influencing sports performance and overall well-being, offering users a holistic approach to optimizing their athletic endeavors.

“Our objective is to provide everyone, regardless of their current fitness level and age, with the chance to progress and achieve their goals. We aim to accomplish this by tailoring the experience to each user's unique needs and leveraging the power of AI.” - Matei Galatanu

Technologies used:

• React
• AWS Cognito
• NestJS
• SQL DB

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3.6 Blissy – a solution to address burnout 

• Team Members: Laura Păvăloaia, Remus Baltariu, Andrei Hilote, Agageldi Durdyyev, Iulian Pînzaru

Blissful.AI is a comprehensive solution to address burnout and enhance employee well-being in the tech industry. 

Studies indicate a rise in stress levels within the IT industry over recent years, largely attributed to digitalization. Factors contributing to this phenomenon include insufficient support from employers, stringent deadlines, extended work hours, inadequate work-life balance, and challenges disconnecting from work responsibilities, all of which have correlated with elevated rates of burnout.

- Blissful.AI is a virtual therapist and guide meant to revolutionize the fight against burnout, emphasizing the importance of wellbeing through personalized self-assessment and expert guidance. 

As key features, Blissy integrates cutting-edge AI technology to develop a personalized and efficient mental health support system. Through the utilization of AI, the platform offers users a customized experience tailored to their individual needs and preferences. Users gain access to a network of certified mental health professionals, including coaches, clinical psychologists, and psychotherapists, ensuring they receive expert guidance and support. Blissy's platform provides a personalized dashboard that adapts based on the user's profile, enhancing the user experience and facilitating seamless interaction with the system. 

By prioritizing mental health, tech companies can experience reduced burnout levels and increased productivity among employees. The platform promotes a culture of well-being and engagement, fostering a happier and more productive workforce. Investing in employees' mental health not only demonstrates a commitment to well-being but also strengthens the company's reputation, attracting top talent. With features such as flexibility, affordability, and immediate access to a network of mental health experts, Blissful.AI empowers employees to manage their mental health effectively, without stigma or shame, ultimately improving overall well-being and quality of life.

Technologies used:  

• Open AI
• FastAPI
• Redis
• Django
• WEB RTC
• Mobile
• Push Notifications
• Smart Watch integration
• iOS

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3.7 Plan2gether – task management and calendaring app 

• Team Members: Silviu Macovei, Maria Botoșan, Ionuț Doroftei, George Măzăreanu

Plan2gether was designed as a mobile application for task management and calendaring, suitable for individual use or collaboration with friends, family, or colleagues.

It provides functionality for both individual users and collaborative groups, including friends, family, or colleagues. One notable feature is the ability to seek help from the user community in completing tasks, enhancing its utility beyond personal use. Timely notifications serve as reminders, ensuring users remain focused and accountable for their commitments.

Moreover, Plan2gether integrates advanced AI functionalities into its framework, particularly in two key areas: facilitating community engagement by intelligently matching users based on shared interests and tasks and enabling intuitive task creation through natural language processing. This innovative integration of AI not only enhances the overall user experience but also significantly augments the efficiency of task management processes.

Technologies used:

• Java
• Kotlin
• Figma

 

4. The Winners

The competition's final stage took place at the headquarters of ASSIST Software on December 15th, where the finalists presented their projects. Seasoned software engineers and professors meticulously evaluated their demos, offering valuable feedback and insights. 

"Life Savers" won the first prize, captivating the jury with the complexity of their concept and presentation. "Metris" secured the second prize for their innovative solution aimed at enhancing HR department workflow, while "MockedUP" claimed the third spot with their production environment simulator. 

Acknowledging daring ingenuity, the Most Disruptive Technology Award was awarded to "Mmings" for their bold utilization of less-common technologies. Meanwhile, "Sports Hub" earned the ASSIST Popularity Award for its comprehensive ecosystem dedicated to optimizing sports management and fostering well-being. 

This year's edition of Best Innovative Minds was truly exhilarating, with an array of innovative projects and remarkable presentations. The energy and creativity showcased by the participants have set a high bar for future competitions. 

With each edition, we continue to be inspired by the passion and talent of our participants, driving us to new heights of excellence and creativity. We are looking forward to another year of groundbreaking ideas and collaborative innovation!