INNOVATION and creativity took centre stage yesterday as The Crown Prince CIPTA Awards 2013 Showcase took place, following its awards presentation ceremony at the Rizqun International Hotel.

His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Deputy Sultan, consented to officiate the opening of the showcase and visited the booths where the CIPTA winners and participants exhibited their inventions.

A wide array of inventions at the showcase exhibited the talents in the Sultanate, with projects ranging from a meter that can detect the susceptibility of a person to stroke all the way to a device that adjusts car windshields based on the temperature of its surroundings.

One notable device was ‘The Back Plate Firing Pin L9mm Browning Remover Tool’, which is a special tool designed to make the removal of the back plate firing pin of a L9mm pistol both simple and quick, using the fraction of the time taken to remove it manually and without the possibility of losing the components in the process.

Another was the “Genius Shopper” – a mobile application that is designed to allow merchants, regardless of size and stature, to effectively advertise their promotions, deals and new products directly targeted to interested customers.

Then, there was the Electronic Solat Assistant or ESA, an invention that works to assist new Muslim converts during their prayers. It is embedded on prayer mats to tally, monitor and display the number of obligatory raka’at of the prayer being done.

The ESA also incorporates a special sensing algorithm that will be triggered during various prescribed actions. Its sole purpose, as stated in the project’s abstract, is to reduce and eliminate doubts or errors made during a prayer.

Meanwhile, in the young inventors’ category, innovative takes on furniture shone through, in the form of creations like the ‘All in One Bedroom Furniture’, ‘Reclaimed Chair and Ottoman’, ‘Modern Bench’ and the winning ‘Multifunction Study Table’.

Another notable submission was the ‘Multifunctional baby carrier bag’, which is designed to make the lives of parents with babies easier. The product as its name suggests is a baby carrier that comes with a built-in bag, and is made to make life easier for parents who need “to travel and like simplicity”.

The ‘Amazing Spy Ball’ was another project that caught the attention. Created by students from St Andrew’s School, it is essentially a ball that doubles up as a remote controlled spy camera.

These are just a few of the 43 inventions submitted as part of the CIPTA 2013 competition, all of which showcased the potential of Bruneians to be creative and innovative. - Borneo Bulletin (26 March 2013)