Interdisciplinary Students Work Together to Solve Real-world Problems at the First-ever Interdisciplinary Hackathon

From 19 May to 23 July 2021, students from Engineering, Business, and other disciplines came together for the first-ever Interdisciplinary Hackathon organised by NTU College of Engineering in partnership with Dell. The hackathon is an initiative led by the student ambassadors of NTU College of Engineering and aims to expose students to various skills such as communications, product ideation, product development and marketing. The participating teams were also given guidance by their mentors from Dell during the hackathon.

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."

The theme for HackAlliance 2021 is 'Redevelop Computing Devices for a Target Segment​.'​ This meant that the teams were required to modify a computer peripheral that processes input/output to/from a computer (e.g., text, mouse, video, displays, audio), to better suit a targeted group of people, for instance, gamers, people who are working from home, and individuals with disabilities.

The hackathon received an overwhelming response with a total of 21 teams participating, and 12 teams making it to the finals. At the final presentation on 9 July, the students presented their ideas to a panel of judges from NTU College of Engineering and Dell.

Team Creare emerged champion with their idea of a portable piano keyboard that aims to enable more children to have the opportunity to learn how to play the piano by reducing the cost and space required to own a piano. 1st runner-up went to Team Mufasa for their idea of WellCam - a virtual buddy that helps to boost productivity and reduce fatigue by alerting users to take short breaks when working behind the desk. 2nd runner-up went to Team Printf-pay respects for CoviFit - a fitness tracking system that tracks skeletal structure and gives real-time personalised feedback during workouts.

Sharing on their experience, here is what the three winning teams have to say: 

Team Creare (Champion)

“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 (1^st 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 idea. 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 (2^nd Runner-up)

“Participating in this hackathon has given us a 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!”

The heroes behind the scene

Led by a committee of students from NTU College of Engineering, this interdisciplinary hackathon was not only an opportunity for the participating teams to gain beneficial skills, the student organising committee was also exposed to the inner workings of organising an event. Find out more about what they have to say below.

 

 

A great job done by the final 12 teams:

Team	Members
Team Creare	Alicia Goh Qiao Hui (SCSE/NBS) Tan Yu-Lynn (WKW) Yap Wee Jun (SCSE) Chen Xiangyu (SCSE) Dario Ang (SCSE/NBS)
Team Mufasa	Agarwal Samarth (MAE) Rahul Baldewa (MAE) Vidurveer Duggal (MAE) Atreya Sridhar (MAE/NBS) Sanat Sikand (HSS
Team Printf-pay respects	Abhinaya Srinivasan  (SCSE) Melanie Rae Wong (SSS) Amulya Mathur (SCBE) Manasi Murali (SSS) Aishwarya Singh (SCSE)
Team Boogie	Tan Ee Hua (MAE) Tung Shi Hui (EEE) Ten Si Ying (SCBE) Ten Si Min (SCSE) Peng Jingqing (NBS)
Team ByteUs	Lai Han Ming (CEE) Lai Weng Hong (SPMS) Tan Hui Qin (NBS) Kong Hou Jing (SCSE) Kenny Voo Tze Rung (SCSE)
Team Epímonos	Fion Chai Xin Yi (SCSE) Cheong Kai Jie (NBS) Eo Sze Kyi (SPMS) Lew Xun Yi (SCSE)
Team FMPK	Yap Shao Ting (WKW) Tsoi Chee Chung (MAE) Priyadharshini D/O Chockalingam (PSBS) Cherie Wong Wen Xin (WKW) Zhang Jia Wen (NBS)
Team O'dell	Kan Kar Shen (SPMS) Felix Loo Khai Chieck (SPMS) Kor Zhi Yi Alden (NBS) Lim Wi Teow (SCSE)
Team Pacific	Jasper Chia Chen-Ean (SCSE) Foo Zhi Kai (SCSE) Valerie Kwan Yi Lin (NBS) Ang Kee Wee Richie (SCSE) Hoo Jing Ting (SSS)
Team SolidWhat	Alice Chua Qin Hui (SCSE) Calvin Hong Wen Kit (SCSE) Vincent Ribli (SCSE) Tan Ee Jing (ADM) Christina Angelica (NBS)
Team Soju	Dongwoo Han (SCSE) Hwang Sungwon (SCBE) Kim Jooho (NBS) Na Minyoung (SPMS) Kim Chae Yoon (SCSE/SPMS)
405 Found	Anamika Martin Kolady (SCSE) Che Kim Ngan (NBS) Harsh Rao Dhanyamraju (SCSE) Chan Joshua Juan Yin (SPMS)

 

All 12 teams’ product videos can be viewed here: www.instagram.com/ntucoe