- Yonah, a project group of students and alumni of the National University of Singapore (NUS) aims to overcome access barriers to healthcare in rural areas through cargo drone infrastructure
- Beginning with their pilot project in Papua New Guinea, Yonah is working to deliver time-sensitive vaccines to about two dozen remote sites
- As a technology partner to Yonah, Bosch is involved in the provision of monetary support, sponsorship of tools and technical expertise
Bosch, a leading global supplier of technology and services, announced today its collaboration with Yonah. Yonah is a student-initiated project group started by alumni and students of NUS that seeks to overcome access barriers to healthcare in rural regions through autonomous technologies. As part of the partnership, Bosch has offered financial support, product and technology sponsorship, as well as on-going consulting, training, and technical advice.
The project was inspired by the founding team's trip to Papua New Guinea in 2016, where they discovered cargo logistics challenges caused by the difficult terrain and lack of road infrastructure. This also inhibited the transport of medical supplies to rural villages, causing a surge in prices for transportation and hindering supervisory medical visits by health community workers. Yonah was thus founded to help time-sensitive medical supplies reach the communities that need them.
"From our hospital partner at Papua New Guinea, we learned that health workers conducting immunisation patrols at the various rural health centres have to travel 20 to 30 kilometres on foot, taking up to three days to cover," explained Ong Tian Chang, Yonah's co-founder. "A routine immunisation patrol covering multiple sites could even take up to 12 days, which was definitely too long for vaccines to reach the provinces. It was then that we realised the potential of utilising autonomous drones in getting vaccines delivered."
Enabling meaningful projects through innovation
Bosch came to hear of the Yonah project and decided to come on board as Yonah's technology partner, enabling student volunteers through sponsoring financial resources, power tools, as well as expert mentoring amongst others.
With the team working on a project trial to implement a cargo delivery service system in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, Bosch tools and technologies such as temperature guns and drill presses are utilised to build operationally-ready drone infrastructures to service two dozen remote sites with time-sensitive medical supplies. Additionally, Bosch provides on-going support to the team, with its technical experts providing regular training sessions to ensure the effective use of its tools for the project.
"Making a difference and enabling better living through innovation has always been close to the heart of what we do and believe in at Bosch," says Martin Hayes, President of Bosch Southeast Asia. "At Bosch, we are committed to addressing social concerns and enabling sustainability through the solutions we offer. We are very glad to be supporting Yonah and to be sharing our technologies with its passionate team. They are a perfect example of the next generation who are effecting positive change in global communities with their skills and educational know-how".
Sustaining transformation and the way forward for Yonah
With the completion of the cargo drone infrastructure, Yonah is now setting its sights on local field testing and launching actual flights to deliver vaccinations, in the rural villages of Papua New Guinea and beyond.
"Even as Yonah seeks to deploy more of the drone technologies in other rural areas to limit vaccine-preventable diseases, Bosch hopes to continue supporting their vision to make a difference through technology and innovation," adds Martin Hayes.
Bosch in Southeast Asia and Singapore
Robert Bosch (South East Asia) Pte Ltd is a regional subsidiary of the Bosch Group, representing the Group's interests in Southeast Asia, where it is present in all ASEAN member countries. Business operations in these countries report to Robert Bosch (SEA) Pte Ltd, located in Singapore. In fiscal 2016, the company generated SGD 162 million in sales in Singapore. As of 31 December 2016, the regional headquarters employed 926 associates. Bosch has been in Singapore since 1923, with diversified businesses in Automotive Aftermarket, Power Tools, Security Systems, Drive and Control Technology, Packaging Technology, Thermotechnology, as well as Software and Systems Solutions. The Asia Pacific headquarters for its Automotive Aftermarket, Security Systems and Bosch Software Innovations business divisions, as well as operations for Corporate Research and Advance Engineering, and Information Technology, are part of Robert Bosch (SEA) Pte Ltd.
Additional Information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.sg, www.linkedin.com/company/bosch-singapore , www.facebook.com/BoschSingapore and https://make.bosch.com/
About Bosch in Thailand
Bosch´s history in Thailand started in 1923. Bosch has diversified businesses in the country in all four of its business sectors of Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. The company has three manufacturing plants for its mobility solutions business with a research and development center, and a facility for the sales and services of hydraulic equipment and machinery in Rayong, and a plant which offers solutions and services of packaging machinery in Chonburi. In 2016,Bosch in Thailand generatedsales of11.9billion baht (305 million euros)and employed over 1,200 associates. Additional information is available at www.bosch.co.th and https://www.facebook.com/BoschThailand.
About the Bosch Group
The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 400,500 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2017). According to preliminary figures, the company generated sales of 78 billion euros in 2017. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT company, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, smart cities, connected mobility, and connected manufacturing. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group's strategic objective is to deliver innovations for a connected life. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is "Invented for life." The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 450 subsidiaries and regional companies in some 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch's global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. The basis for the company's future growth is its innovative strength. At 125 locations across the globe, Bosch employs 62,500 associates in research and development.
Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, www.twitter.com/BoschPresse
About Yonah
Yonah works with rural and remote hospitals by delivering vaccinations and other medical supplies using cargo drone infrastructures to reduce the rate of vaccine-preventable diseases in children. Yonah also engages undergraduates with a passion for engineering, driven with the intention of making a difference to isolated communities. The team is mainly made up of engineering and computing students from various disciplines who are interested in developing innovative technologies and experiencing an alternative engineering education. To find out more about how they are transforming healthcare and empowering isolated communities through autonomous technologies, visit Yonah's website at https://www.yonah.sg.