26 September 2019

Source: The Straits Times, https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/youth-draw-from-their-own-experiences-to-find-solutions-in-cross-institution (24th Sep 2019)

The “Build On Singapore 2019” Hackathon was jointly organised by Amazon Web Services (AWS), Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and National University of Singapore Information Technology (NUS IT).

This inaugural event drew interest from 98 teams of students from Institute of Technical Education, junior colleges, polytechnics, and universities across Singapore. The teams were challenged to build solutions that would address today’s real life problems using the latest technologies. 

Undaunted, the teams submitted 51 proposals which they believed would make a difference in their society. After rigorous rounds of selection, only 38 teams made it to the finals. 

At the finals, the teams were given 10 minutes to pitch their solutions to a group of judges. These judges are experts and specialists in fields of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data etc. 

One of the judges, Ms Tan Shui-Min, Director Application of NUS IT, said, “The students blew me over with their ingenuity and technical prowess! I am so proud of their achievements and look forward to engaging them to turn their prototypes to live solutions”.

After an intensive round of solution pitches, 9 teams arrived at the final selection round.

Between the teams and the coveted prizes were a panel of senior judges, comprising individuals from the top echelon of GovTech, AWS, Singtel, Intel, SPH and NUS IT.

These senior judges critiqued the teams on profitability, technical feasibility, user traction, financial sustainability, privacy consideration, competitiveness and many more. 

NUS team clinched the top prize for Category A (university):  5 Peas in a Pod with NUS President, Tan Eng Chye, who presented them with the award. The team pitched a concept of integrating navigation and parking prices.

At the end, our winners emerged. For Category A (University), our winners were from NUS – 5 Peas in a Pod.  Their solution to “Smart Parking-integrating navigation and parking prices.” addressed issues drawn from our everyday life, such as helping drivers find the best routes and cheapest place to park.  As the champion, 5 Peas in a Pod, walked away with Amazon Echo Show 5, Kindle Fire Tablets, Movidius and Intel AI Vision Kits.  
In other categories, the “Meow” team from Singapore Polytechnic claimed its triumph in Category B (Polytechnics) while CloudByters came in tops in the ITE category. 

Indeed, this was a rare opportunity for the teams to be exposed to a myriad of advance technologies and at the same time, learnt from experienced individuals from notable organisations, each with rich technical and domain knowhow to impart.

The solutions from the teams are just the beginning of a learning journey. Through potential internships and employment opportunities, participants can further their ideas to make that difference in our society.