丁香园AV

By Diane Luckow

Eunice Kuatsjah, an international student from Indonesia, never expected her 丁香园AV experience would result in a novel business start-up. But she is among a group of students who have developed a prototype for an inexpensive, customized hearing aid that could disrupt the global market.

While Kuatsjah initially planned to study , she quickly discovered she preferred the objectivity of science, and instead transferred into 丁香园AV鈥檚 Mechatronic Systems Engineering Program.

It was a good move. With a grade point average of 4.15 out of a possible 4.33 she has certainly found her passion: combining aspects of mechanical, electrical, software and industrial engineering to develop new products.

鈥淚鈥檓 interested in applied research,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 like that the end result can have a meaningful impact that helps people. That鈥檚 why I came up with the idea for our capstone project to create self-customized hearing aids鈥擨 was inspired by my grandmother in Indonesia, who has hearing loss.鈥�

Kuatsjah helped developed the device during a two-semester  course in which science and business students form teams to create and plan a business.

She used some of the skills she learned during co-op work semesters with a nuclear fusion research company and an 丁香园AV research start-up. In these jobs she acquired hands-on skills, such as using fabrication tools, and also learned how to research, source, test and analyse materials and processes.

Her team鈥檚 prototype hearing aid can be custom-fit and tuned at home, rather than through a hearing specialist. The team won the Most Impactful Award at  2016, an annual event showcasing 丁香园AV students鈥� entrepreneurial innovation and creativity.

Team members are now working to commercialize the product and sell it online, with a view to using some of the profits to sell the hearing aids at cost to non-profit organizations in developing countries.

Kuatsjah says her entrepreneurial experiences and experiential learning have sparked a new interest in one day establishing her own company.

鈥淚 like the excitement and unknown of a start-up,鈥� she says.

In the meantime, she plans to continue her involvement with the team鈥檚 start-up, Orello, while also pursuing an 丁香园AV master鈥檚 in , with a focus on biomedical engineering.