To store and preserve various types of medicines from damage, 12 students from the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) have come together to create a smart medicine container. 

An Omani startup called Baun was founded by the ambitious university students from different majors who strive to make a positive change in Omani society especially in the field of medicine. The company is participating in the Sharekati competition for the year 2021 under the supervision of the Injaz Oman organisation. 

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Azza al Salmani, CEO of Baun, said, “We want to create electronic medical devices which will be available for public use. We are 12 students from a variety of colleges at the SQU such as the colleges of Engineering, Nursing, Education, Science, Economics, and the College of Art and Social Sciences. Apart from our supervisor Samo Ba Omar, Ahmed al Jabri, an inventor, is helping the group as a volunteer who himself went through the experience of participating in this competition two years ago.” 

This year 70 different colleges and universities from around Oman are competing to win the title of the best Omani student company. There are other awards that Injaz Oman provides as part of the competition such as the best marketing plan, best logo, best innovation, best commercial video, and other awards that will be announced at the closing ceremony.

“We started our project last September and we expect to finish both the container and the application at the end of this month. The competition is built around the idea of making a product that solves a problem, which can be found in Omani society and hinders individuals’ ability to live with ease. After several meetings and discussions, and much observation we identified the problem of damage to and poor preservation of medicines in addition to the difficulty of transporting them from one place to another without increasing the possibility of their loss, or reducing their effectiveness,” Azza said. 

The product provides the optimal environment for keeping the medicines away from any damage that could happen as a result of the temperature and humidity, she said.

“Besides, we are trying to create a safe place for medications to be kept away from children. We found that there is a need for this product. We did a questionnaire to assess the need of our society for this kind of services. Also, the Directorate General of Pharmaceutical Affairs and Drug Control praised the product and the urgent need for it. Because of COVID-19 pandemic, the urgency for such a product increases as chronic patients need more care in taking their medication at the right time and in right dose,” Azza said.

Of the challenges the team faced, she said, “As we are from different colleges and majors, we found some issues related to programming and choosing the best pieces for making the container.” 

“As students, we still needed some support for different areas. Mr Samo Ba Omar, Mr Ahmed al Jabri, and Mr Issa al Noobi are very supportive and we would like to thank them,” Azza added.