Media Contacts:
Buck Webb
Margaret Heil, 919/515-6020
Mick Kulikowski, News Services, 919/515-3470

June 30, 2003

NC State One of 10 Finalists in Int’l Computer Design Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A simple trip to the grocery store can generate a number of questions: How many carbohydrates per serving does this food contain? Will this recipe ruin my new diet? Am I out of cereal?

North Carolina State University undergraduate computer science students competing in an international design competition have figured out a way to answer these and other questions like them. Piecing together a personal digital assistant (PDA) with a bar-code scanner, the NC State students have created a “virtual pantry” that can help consumers keep track of items needed to replenish their real pantries and refrigerators, while providing specific nutritional information to help consumers adhere to dietary restrictions. Plus, the system gives users a chance to view recent weight history, which might inspire users to put down the doughnuts.

The device, “Diet Download,” has propelled the NC State team into the finals of the fourth annual Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society International Design Competition. NC State is one of 10 finalists and the only remaining team from the United States. The 10 teams will present and demonstrate their inventions from June 29 to July 1 in Washington, D.C. More than 170 teams from across the globe submitted design proposals.

“Diet Download” is the invention of Nathan Green, Jeremy Maness, Buck Webb and J.R. Wilson. Green and Maness graduated in May, with Green receiving his bachelor’s degree in computer science and Maness receiving bachelor’s degrees in computer science and mathematics. Webb and Wilson will graduate with computer science degrees in December 2003.

For the competition, the team created “Diet Download” software to assist with adhering to a low-carbohydrate diet, although the students say they can easily plug in modules for other dietary restrictions.

“Since part of the competition is judged on the system’s benefit to society, we chose this project out of six or so ideas because obesity is the second-largest health issue facing people today,” Webb says.

“Diet Download” scans bar codes of grocery-store items and gives a read-out of the number of servings each item contains as well as nutritional information per serving. The students created room for about 17,000 items in the “Diet Download” database, although the prototype currently contains about 150 items in a variety of food types. Typically, Webb says, grocery stores stock upwards of 30,000 items, although he points out that many of these are non-food items.

“Diet Download” makes the written grocery list a relic. Users have the capability to scan the bar codes of all the products in the home pantry or refrigerator, and then keep track of the amounts used or consumed during meals. The PDA keeps up with the amount used and, when an item is depleted, will display a list of items that need to be purchased. The PDA will also, when a consumer buys an item, move the newly purchased item into the virtual pantry.

Although the PDA can’t physically force a consumer to adhere to a diet, it can give warnings of excess. If you eat toast for breakfast, the carb-counting PDA will let you know how many grams of carbs you can consume the rest of the day. If you plan on pasta for dinner later that evening, the PDA will squawk that you’re about to exceed your daily carb limit.

Finally, “Diet Download” keeps tabs of recent weight history, so users can maintain a visual record of progress, or lack thereof.

Team coordinator Margaret Heil, assistant director of the Senior Design Center in the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science, says about the squad, “We’re very proud of this team. It’s extremely gratifying to be the only university from the United States in the finals.”

The theme of this year’s competition, “Added Value: Turning a Computer into a System,” required student teams to add an external device and appropriate software to a personal computer, laptop or hand-held computer, turning the computer into something innovative that fulfills a societal need. Teams were limited to spending no more than $400 on the external equipment, such as sensors, GPS systems, and the like.

First-place team members will split $15,000 in prize money. Prize money is also awarded to second- through fifth-place finishers as well as an honorable mention selection. The top three teams’ universities also receive prize money to establish an IEEE computer science financial aid fund.

- kulikowski -