MIRI: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Student Branch of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) recently organised the first Hackathon Weekend or ‘HackWknd’ for the northern region of Sarawak in conjunction with the 7th International Conference of Smart Computing and Communications (ICSCC) 2019 held at the university.
A HackWknd is a hackathon event typically lasting several days in which large numbers of participants meet to engage in collaborative programming.
Supported by Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) and the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), the HackWknd held at the university’s Digital Maker Hub was aimed at discovering raw talent and encouraging open innovation among tertiary
students and members of the
public.
It saw the participation of a number of young programmers, designers and creative thinkers in the fields of big data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), who collaborated in teams to produce web, mobile and digital hardware solutions that could potentially solve issues faced by the private and public sectors in Miri City.
Coming up tops in the hackathon was ‘Sigcom Team’ comprising Tay Chuan Zhi, Nurul Ain Hamizan,
Hu Ho Yee, Kavin Chelvan Sylvestyne Kathiravan and Ivan Ang Jie
Xiong.
Their winning solution was an innovative mobile application called GoMiri incorporating Augmented Reality (AR) navigation, maps, forums and an SOS system. The application allows tourists to locate hidden hotspots using AR pathways, which can also be used for navigation when jungle-trekking.
‘Beemo’ comprising Leong Yi Sheng, Hong Chin Kai and Gillian Tan Jing Ying came in second with their mobile application that links tourists with local tour operators and includes in-system cash payment.
Third-placed ‘Lemetriq’ comprising Basil Andy Lease, Jonathan Phang Then Sien and Chiam Dar Hung proposed an IoT bus service application that connects local bus companies with passengers, count passengers on buses using cameras, and detects abnormal human behaviour to
prevent vandalism.
The winning teams will receive support from the sponsors to fine-tune and pilot their prototypes. The teams are also encouraged to pledge seed funding, facilitated by SMA’s Digital Village Unit.
