The Recipient - Tan Boon Kheng

Boon Kheng's Major Project titled Where R U? is an application developed to provide caregivers with an effective way to locate their lost charges. For his excellent work on this project, Boon Kheng has been awarded the CISCO Systems (USA) Special Industry Prize.

Done in collaboration with the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), the project aims to provide peace of mind to caregivers. It is targeted at groups that often need special attention, like the intellectually-challenged, young children and the elderly.

Where R U? employs the use of mobile devices such as the easily available mobile phone and PDA-phone. When the charge is lost, the caregiver is able to use his mobile device to send a message to his charge's device in order to obtain his position. This position, made available via the Global Positioning System, is then relayed to the caregive's device and displayed on a virtual map for easy identification. While working on the project, Boon Kheng impressed his supervisors with his ability to independently learn the required technologies and grasp complicated program codes with ease.

This practical project addresses a real-life problem that is faced by the intellectually-disabled and many caregivers today. The system helps to alleviate the anxiety that occurs when a loved one goes missing and provides savings in both time and resources.