Web Series Makes Youth Win Microsoft Challenge!

Pratik Mohapatra, a final year undergraduate student of RV College of Engineering, started watching a web series. The lead actor in the series struggled to get an organ for his son in India. The gap between the availability of organ and its demand made Pratik think hard. He started devising a solution to this problem.

The 21-year old said, “The lead actor struggles to find an organ for his ill son and even goes to a questionable extent in his desperation to save him. It shows how difficult it is to get an organ in India and even in other parts of the world. I wanted to put technology to good use to find a solution”. He further explained, “I wanted to solve the current problem, where organs are given on first-come, first-serve basis”.

Pratik who was interning with Microsoft was always enthused by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. His AI-based solution to this problem is OrganSecure. He applied in Microsoft’s 2019 AI for Good Idea Challenge two months ago and won it. As an award, he got an Xbox One X console and Nvidia Quadro graphics processing unit worth $2500.

OrganSecure provides real-time updates about the availability of the organs and it quickly matches donors. It evaluates blood group, antigens, number of days a recipient will live and the priority of transplant needed by the recipient. Pratik said, “It can reduce chances of error and help people waiting for organs.”