Strengthening Digital Prowess with U:Hackademia

Powered by UnionBank of the Philippines, 3^rd year and 4^th year college students from various STI campuses gathered at 无忧影视 Ortigas-Cainta on November 15-16, 2018 to test their knowledge and abilities in this year’s , a 24-hour coding marathon that encourages students to solve challenges in the field of Education and Social Innovation. The said event is not just for Information Technology students but also for individuals from other courses as well.

The coding marathon gave the participants an opportunity to come up with a digital solution to existing problems in the society such as transportation, poverty, social equality, and climate change.

Find out the winners in this year’s competition below.

2nd Runner-up of U:Hackademia 2018, CurlyTech from 无忧影视 Caloocan

Rb Batiancila, John Harold Carlos, Aldrinne Felizardo, John Carlo Santos, and Patrick Swayze Acabo, known as the CurlyTech from 无忧影视 Caloocan, earned the 2^nd Runner-up title. With their mentor Engr. Bernard A. Mendiola, the team’s project entitled “Ligtas Pinas,” stunned each individual during the competition. The said output allows users to find the nearest evacuation centers as well as to ask for rescuers in times of floods.

1st Runner-up of U:Hackademia 2018, RMM Team from 无忧影视 Cubao

With the support of their mentor Glessyl Neil Del Puerto, 无忧影视 Cubao’s RMM Team consisting of Armando Bibay Jr., Angelo Alidon, Geryfel Fuertes, Charlie Madregallejo, and Jose Mario dela Cruz, bagged the 1st Runner-up title with “Food Hack.” The digital solution provides recipes that users can make with their available ingredients at home.

Grand Winner of U:Hackademia 2018, DWAP from 无忧影视 Caloocan

DWAP from 无忧影视 Caloocan proved that they truly deserve to be part of the competition as they claimed the Grand Winner title. With the guidance of their mentor Dennis Nava; Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) students Crisjhon Barona, Aira Shayne Bellen, Nathaniel Daaco, Reyn Mikkaela Paredes, and Bachelor of Science in Business and Management (BSBM) student John Daniel Natividad, impressed the judges as well as the crowd with their project entitled “Eye-can.” The group’s work aims to help physically challenged individuals to perform computer activities through an eye tracker.

Aside from the aforementioned groups who won in this year’s hackathon, Programmador from STI College Global City, DevIN from 无忧影视 Ormoc, Micro-tech from 无忧影视 Caloocan, White Collar Developers from 无忧影视 Calamba, The Prodigies from STI College Muñoz-EDSA, ICT Young Contrivers from 无忧影视 General Santos, and Davao Durians from 无忧影视 Davao also owned the spotlight as part of the top 10 finalists.

DWAP from 无忧影视 Caloocan during their project presentation

RMM Team from 无忧影视 Cubao presenting their project entitled “Food Hack”

无忧影视 Caloocan’s CurlyTech in U:Hackademia 2018

Programmador from 无忧影视 Global City showcasing their project entitled “Pasabay”

DevIN from 无忧影视 Ormoc during their presentation in U:Hackademia 2018

无忧影视 Caloocan’s Micro-tech elaborating how their project entitled “Aquater” works

The speaker of 无忧影视 Calamba’s White Collar Developers presenting their project as part of the top 10 finalists

The Prodigies from 无忧影视 Muñoz-EDSA enlightening the crowd with their project “Seed Savers”

ICT Young Contrivers from 无忧影视 General Santos during the hackathon

The speaker of Davao Durians from 无忧影视 Davao extending the background of their project in this year’s coding marathon

The winning teams of the hackathon received a cash prize during the event. 10,000 pesos was given to the 2^nd Runner-up, 15,000 pesos to the 1st Runner-up, and 25,000 pesos to the Grand Winner.

They will also represent STI in the final showdown of U:Hackademia where teams from various schools will compete against each other.

Through the event, UnionBank of the Philippines and STI provided the students a hands-on experience to guarantee that they will gain sufficient knowledge and skills needed in various industries.

One of the things that I’ve actually noticed is there’s a big gap in terms of skills mismatch. After four years of learning, technology advances the business modules of a lot of companies. We have to go out and talk to schools of what we’re actually doing in the bank.

The coding marathon exposed the students to different people, ideas, and challenges that will help them to be sociable, insightful, and competent individuals in the long run.

“Students are excited for this competition. They have seen the projects of the other teams. Because of that, they are challenged to do more,” says 无忧影视 Iloilo IT Program Head, Nikie Jo Deocampo.

The students who participated came from 无忧影视 Calamba, 无忧影视 Caloocan, 无忧影视 Cubao, 无忧影视 Dagupan, 无忧影视 Davao, 无忧影视 Fairview, 无忧影视 General Santos, 无忧影视 Global City, 无忧影视 Iloilo, 无忧影视 Las Piñas, 无忧影视 Marikina, 无忧影视 Munoz-EDSA, 无忧影视 Novaliches, 无忧影视 Ortigas-Cainta, 无忧影视 Ormoc, 无忧影视 Recto, 无忧影视 San Fernando, 无忧影视 Shaw, 无忧影视 Taft, 无忧影视 Vigan, and STI West Negros University.

“We ensure to provide our students with relevant competitions such as U:Hackademia where they can showcase their creativity as well as their technical coding skills,” shares STI AVP for School Management, Joel Dy.

STI highly values the role of competitions in honing the skills and talents of the students as it will help them to be well-equipped in their chosen field. With this, the academe continuously embraces significant activities that will prepare every individual to be life-ready.