Planning a hackathon amidst the ever-changing COVID regulations has its own set of challenges and frustrations. With restrictions on group capacities and in-person events, many student-led initiatives had to be delayed, shifted online, or even cancelled. But all these obstacles did not deter a particular group of student ambassadors from NTU College of Engineering (CoE). Leave it to this nine-person student team to successfully conclude NTU’s first-ever interdisciplinary hackathon – HackAlliance 2021 in partnership with Dell. Not only was HackAlliance a rousing success, but it is also the first hackathon led by CoE’s student ambassadors. Let us hear what the student organising committee has to say below.
Organising Committee
The Purpose behind this Interdisciplinary Hackathon
Compared to other hackathons, HackAlliance is not your usual technology-focused event. Emphasising on working across different fields of study, each team comprised students from engineering, business, and other disciplines.
When asked about the composition requirement of each team, the student organising committee shared, “By ensuring that the teams consisted of students from diverse backgrounds such as engineering and business, we believed that the teams would be able to produce a product that follows the theme, addresses the pain points of the target audience, delivers business value, and encourages creativity.”
Going beyond the technical aspect of this competition, HackAlliance also held workshops for the participants on topics such as product life cycle and computer-aided design (CAD). Facilitated by Dell, the product life cycle workshop exposed the students to common industry practices of the product development cycle from idea generation to product launch. Additionally, NTU’s School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (SCBE) Makerspace also ran an introductory workshop on CAD where the participants were given a step-by-step walkthrough of the 3D software platform, Onshape. From these workshops, the organising committee hoped that the teams would not only be exposed to new topics such as product management and marketing, but they would also be able to use this new found knowledge in this competition.
The Journey through HackAlliance 2021
Upon its launch, the student-led hackathon received an overwhelming response. It was more than the organising committee had expected. However, they wanted to include as many students as possible, and hence sought to expand the number of participating teams. With that, HackAlliance kicked off its eight- week long hackathon with a total of 21 teams across various schools, from the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) to School of Computer Science and Engineering (SCSE).
With the theme of ‘Redevelop Computing Devices for a Target Segment’, participants had to submit a proposal of how they would modify a computer peripheral to suit the needs of their chosen target audience. It challenged the teams to not only come up with innovative solutions but also marketing strategies to promote their products. Alongside this entire journey, the teams were given guidance by Dell mentors from various fields such as mechanical, user experience and product management.
Out of the participating teams, 12 teams made it to the finals and had to present their products in front of a panel of judges from NTU CoE and Dell. With each team giving it their all, it was indeed a difficult decision for the judges to make. However, there could only be one champion.
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Team Creare emerged first place with their idea of a portable and affordable keyboard that aims to provide children with the opportunity to learn to play the piano, regardless of physical and/or monetary constraints.
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The first runner-up went to Team Mufasa with their product of WellCam – a virtual buddy that boosts productivity and reduces fatigue by alerting users to take short breaks when working behind the desk.
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The second runner-up went to Team Printf-pay respects for CoviFit – a fitness tracking system that tracks the user’s skeletal structure and gives real-time personalised feedback during workouts.
Learning Experience Recounted by the Winning Teams
Team Creare (First Place)
“Though the journey was not easy, I think that HackAlliance was an extremely fulfilling experience and I am proud of my team for having worked tirelessly on this project for the past 2-3 months. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank all the organisers, mentors, and judges of Dell HackAlliance for their support and guidance throughout the competition.”
Team Mufasa (1st Runner-up)
“The hackathon was a great learning platform for our team. We learnt to work with people from different majors, understand each other’s perspectives and bring out synergies on our ideas. Working with Dell was a great breakthrough for us, and the mentors were very helpful and insightful. We understood the importance of teamwork and time management and the entire process of a project from ideation to prototype phase. Overall, this hackathon has been a great session of bonding within our team and bringing out the best in one another.”
Team Printf – pay respects (2nd Runner-up)
“Participating in this hackathon has given us an unique exposure to Machine Learning, UI design, Prototyping, Marketing strategies, and Teamwork. Working with members from different majors was a new experience for all of us, and we learnt a lot from one another in this journey. Our team synergy, bonding, and enthusiasm for the project made a big difference and we are happy and grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this hackathon!”
Once again, congratulations to all the winning teams. Lastly, a big thank you to the participating teams, supporting partners and the organising committee for being a part of this meaningful hackathon.
