“Not just the first time to be held in Thailand, it’s also the first in Asia.

“And Pattaraphon Boonchai, a mechanical and aerospace engineering student at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, is the first qualified Thai student to represent Thailand’s young entrepreneur in ente ring the semi-finals,” said Sasamon Sanguansin, president of Entrepreneurs’ Organisation Thailand.

Since 2006, the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) has been organising the GSEA programme to support student entrepreneurs who require mentoring, recognition |and connections to take their businesses to the next level of success.

It is aimed at giving student entrepreneurs the opportunity to accelerate their success, challenge the status quo, connect to an instrumental peer group and make the greatest impact in their community.

In the past, only undergraduates who owned and had operated a business for at least six months were eligible to compete.

However, the Thai chapter asked the global EO to skip that criterion to give more opportunities for students to submit their work without doing business.

From the 50 candidates competing in the semi-finals, only five will be selected for the Global Finals Competition on May 12 at the Centara Grand at CentralWorld hotel.

The grand prize is Bt700,000.

Pattaraphon said that, inspired by his 94-year old grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease, he wanted to invent a rescue robot for the elderly and disabled who cannot walk.

This robot’s arm is fixed with four cameras and was designed to flexible and to prop up the robot’s body, thanks to an auto-motion-detection system.

“This rescue robot offers great mobility, so it can be further developed for various purposes,” he said.

“In the future, I want to carry on the project with the aim [of making] a robot chair for the disabled, such as people with myasthenia gravis,” a neuromuscular disease.

EO Thailand will also host the Global Leadership Conference for the first time, gathering 1,500 EO members to share best business practices.

Founded in 1987, EO is a global peer-to-peer network of more than 20,000 influential business owners with 158 chapters in 50 countries.

EO is a platform that enables entrepreneurs to learn and grow from one another, leading to greater business success and an enriched personal life, it says.

EO provides members access to mentors, offers customised learning programmes and gives them the chance to attend global networking events.

Sasamon said EO Thailand was founded 20 years ago with one chapter and 110 members.

All of them are entrepreneurs from a range of business types.

The member entrepreneurs |can take home value through learning events and in-depth sharing forums.