Stellenbosch University’s (SU) annual hackathon recently took place for the third year since it started in 2019, but this year it has a new set of facilitators.
SU LaunchLab, in partnership with the SU department of industrial engineering, were the facilitators for the 2021 hackathon, which ran from 15 to 18 October. This was according to Daniel Maloba, varsity engagement manager at LaunchLab.
The Stellenbosch University (SU) hackathon was established by Camilla de Villiers, a previous employee of Innovus. The intention behind the event is to expose “students at Stellenbosch University to the ‘industry’, by giving them an opportunity to apply their data science skills and solve a real business problem”, explained Daniel Maloba, varsity engagement manager at the SU LaunchLab. It also aims to “encourage innovation and connect academia and industry by solving business problems”, added Maloba. SU LaunchLab, in partnership with the SU department of industrial engineering, was the facilitator for the 2021 hackathon. PHOTO: Kyra Rensburg
The hackathon is intended to bridge the gap between academia and the data science and software-engineering industries, by providing students with the opportunity to solve business problems for a cash prize, said Maloba, in written correspondence with MatieMedia.
“We hope […] that the hackathon gives them a glimpse of how their skills can help solve real-world problems,” according to Tabitha van der Merwe, employee brand specialist at Entersekt, in written correspondence with MatieMedia. Entersekt and Capitec are the corporate sponsors for the hackathon, said Maloba.
The annual event, previously organised by Innovus, was handed over to SU LaunchLab as the founder of the hackathon has left Innovus, said Anita Nel, chief director of innovation and business development at Innovus, in written correspondence with MatieMedia.
The role of the Stellenbosch University (SU) department of industrial engineering in the 2021 SU hackathon was to prepare an appropriate challenge and set up “cloud computing infrastructure”, according to Dr Stephan Nel, a lecturer in the department of industrial engineering. The department of industrial engineering also provided the participants with a suitable working environment, said Stephan. “From the university’s point of view, it is an innovative initiative to collaborate with industry partners and form an active, meaningful academia-industry relationship,” said Stephan. PHOTO: Kyra Rensburg
Hackathon 2021
All registered SU students were qualified to participate in the event, according to Dr Stephan Nel, a lecturer in the department of industrial engineering. Teams of three to five students “partake in an online-only event that spans three days”, said Stephan in written correspondence with MatieMedia.
A total of 120 people participated in the 2021 event, of which 103 were students and 17 were mentors and judges, said Stephan.
From left to right: Daniel Maloba from Stellenbosch University (SU) LaunchLab, Dr Stephan Nel from the SU department of industrial engineering, and Megan Gannon, the production manager at De Plate Kompanjie, were the local organising committee for the 2021 SU hackathon. Gannon and Dirkie van der Merwe were the event coordinators, added Stephan. Three of the four local organising committee members [excluding Dirkie Van der Merwe] can be seen displaying the swag bags that were distributed to the hackathon competitors. PHOTO: Sourced/Dr Stephan Nel
“[Entersekt and Capitec] provide the funding, the challenge, data set, mentorship and judge the final solutions,” said Maloba.
The SU hackathon is driven by the challenges put forward by the companies that sponsor the event, according to Stephan. “So, in this year’s case, data science [provided by] Capitec and financial technology [provided by] Entersekt are at the forefront, due to the two challenges proposed,” explained Stephan.
Challenges put forward by sponsors of the 2021 hackathon determine the theme of the event, according to Dr Stephan Nel from the SU department of industrial engineering. This years theme was focused on data science and FinTech. Entersekt, who determined the FinTech challenge, their vision for the hackathon is to make online spaces safer for consumers to transact in, according to Tabitha van der Merwe, employee brand specialist at Entersekt. GRAPHIC: Kyra Rensburg
The FinTech challenge calls for participants to use their computer and coding skills to develop a “disruptive FinTech-inspired software solution” that can help small businesses and consumers transact in the current remote economy, explained Stephan.
“Capitec’s challenge focuses on the application of data science algorithms and graph-based learning towards enriching client data,” said Stephan.
Participants received the hackathon brief on the Friday evening. In the problem-solving phase, participants can engage with mentors from Entersekt and Capitec, explained Stephan. The challenges concluded on the Sunday morning, and participants had to present their prototype to the judges, he added.
The winner of the FinTech challenge was team LaTeX on the Beach, made up by:
- Simeon Boshoff;
- Nadia van Niekerk;
- Lauren Abrahall;
- Daniel Olivier;
- and Simon Steven.
This was according to Stephan. He added that the winner of the data challenge was team Designated Derivers, which included:
- Lance Davids;
- Musa Maboea;
- and Thamu Mnyulwa.
The teams that placed first received R8 000, according to Stephan.
Team LaTeX on the Beach were the winners of the FinTech challenge in the 2021 Stellenbosch University hackathon. From left to right: Daniel Olivier, Nadia van Niekerk, Lauren Abrahall, Simeon Boshoff. The fifth member of the team, Simon Steven, is absent from the photo. The team has developed an inventory-taking prototype that requires only a phone and a marker, “the identification of up to 512 individual products, and helps the counting of inventory greatly. Specific tracking of products also allows apps like SnapScan and Zapper to actually show which products the customer bought, which is something that does not yet exist,” said Boshoff. PHOTO: Sourced/ Simeon Boshoff