The Nanoteem team was among the top five to receive the award “Impactful Social Innovative Concepts” in the Social Business Creation 2021 competition. — Photo courtesy of International University

HCM CITY — Three Vietnamese projects were among the top five to win the “Impactful Social Innovative Concepts” awards in the Social Business Creation 2021 competition.

Social Business Creation 2021 is a global competition to promote social business creation organised by HEC Montréal Canada, a public Canadian business school, and professor Muhammad Yunus, who won a Nobel Peace prize in 2006.

Among Việt Nam’s three projects, International University in HCM City had two projects, including one on herb-based pesticides for green agriculture and the other on a website platform using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect Alzheimer’s disease.

The project Nanoneem, which protects neem forests while assisting local people, was led by Dr. Dương Nguyễn Hồng Nhung, lecturer from the International University's School of Biotechnology, along with the school's students and others from the Foreign Trade University in Hà Nội.

Brain Analytics is a website platform using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect Alzheimer’s disease. The project is run by a group of students from the International University’s School of Biomedicine under the guidance of Dr. Hà Thị Thanh Hương, head of the department of regenerative medicine at the school.

The third award went to Cereal Straws of Vinastraw, a manufacturer of biodegradable drinking straws, whose representative is Đỗ Thị Hương Thảo, along with 10 students from universities in Hà Nội. The project makes eco-friendly products from common materials found in the country.

Among the top five projects, the other two were from Mexico and Argentina. — VNS