With the proposal INCLUCODE, which aims to improve computational thinking skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the team composed of Andrés Rubiano and Juan Hurtado from the Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications, secured the first place in the Student Design Competition.

Andrés Rubiano and Juan Hurtado, students from the Systems Engineering program at the University of Cauca, were the winners of the Student Design Competition held during the IX Ibero-American Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, an event that took place from September 11th to 15th at the University of La Matanza (Argentina).

This competition, held for the first time in Latin America, aims for undergraduate and graduate students to present their proposals from the perspective of Human-Computer Interaction to solve a specific problem, emphasizing the Sustainable Development Goals on this occasion.

Participating teams were required to submit their proposals, and after a review process, the best works were selected to be presented during the event, which involved various Latin American universities.

In this context, seven teams from universities in Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia (including 2 teams from the University of Cauca) were selected. These teams received guidance from Professor Cristian Sturm from the Technical University of Ingolstadt (Germany), who conducted a workshop to enhance their presentations, focusing on aspects of innovation and research.

Ultimately, an evaluation jury comprising individuals from the business and academic sectors decided to recognize 2 works:

First place: The project by students Andrés Rubiano and Juan Hurtado from the Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications at the University of Cauca, who developed a model called INCLUCODE aimed at improving computational thinking skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Second place: The students from the Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Sao Paulo (Brazil) and their software application to support women victims of obstetric violence.

The winning project is part of the thesis proposal that the students are conducting under the guidance of professors César Alberto Collazos from the University of Cauca and Susana Bautista from the Francisco Vitoria University (Spain), with the support of the CENIDI Foundation in Popayán.

This award acknowledges the work led by the University of Cauca in Human-Centered Technology Design processes. The participation in the event was supported by ACM SIG-CHI (ACM Chapter on HCI) and the Vice Presidency of Research at the University of Cauca.

The two winning teams will now be trained to participate in the World Competition organized within the framework of CHI 2024 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems), scheduled to be held in Hawaii.