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ACES Newsletter 2019 - University of Peradeniya
ACES Newsletter 2019 - University of Peradeniya
ACES
HACKATHON 2019
Ideas Worth Millions
H
istory’s most beloved scientist,
Albert
Einstein
once
said
“Imagination is more important
than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.
Imagination
encircles
the
world.”
Imagination and innovation could be the
pillars of success of Engineers. Hence,
they are cultivated within the Engineering
Undergraduates through events like a
Hackathon. A Hackathon, in general terms,
is typically an event lasting several days, in
which a large number of people get together
in collaborative computer programming. Be
it building new network systems or mobile
services and applications, the participants
are given a limited amount of time and
evaluated at the end.
ACES Hackathon 2k19 was organized for
the 9th consecutive year by the Association
of Computer Engineering Students of
the Faculty of Engineering, University of
Peradeniya. 150 students in 23 teams from
the Faculty of Engineering participated
in this event with much enthusiasm, from
13th to 15th September 2019.
What makes ACES Hackathon 2k19 stand
out from the rest is the introduction of new
categories to encourage the participants to
apply technological transfers to real world
problems. Participants were encouraged to
divergently think and come up with an idea
of a product to solve day to day problems
through the pre-idea pitching events that
took place. The marketability and business
model were given a priority as equal to that
of the engineering aspect. It was not only
the idea. It was also how the concept in
the core of a mind reached the grounds of
reality, how the finality of the product was
approached with the given time constraint,
and how the idea was delivered and shared
with the audience and the impact.
Yes, you could say ACES Hackathon 2k19
took a great step in bridging Engineering
and Entrepreneurship, which in our
opinion, best fits today’s context.
modified and evaluation was done at the
end of the 2nd day. Progression of the
product so far and teamwork were the
basic criteria of evaluation. After about 12
hours of continuous hard work, day 2 was
concluded at around 8 pm.
The third day of ACES Hackathon also
began at 8 am in the usual venue amidst
the chilly aura. The students were busily
engaged in adding the final touch-ups to
their products and also in preparing the
presentations and demonstrations for the
final pitch. These tasks were completed by
noon and the participants were gathered
at the EOE Pereira Theater along with the
The Idea Pitching Session commenced academic staff, the panel of judges and
around 3.00pm at the EOE Pereira Theatre representatives of the industry.
on the first day. Following the traditional
Various interesting, innovative ideas were
lighting of the oil lamp, the gathering
implemented in ACES Hackathon 2019. The
was welcomed by the president of the
winners of the competition were awarded
ACES, Nirodha Suchinthana. Thereafter,
under 5 categories.
Professor Gamunu Herath, the Dean of the
Faculty of Engineering and Dr. Kamalanath • Transportation and Safety - Suspicious
Activity Detection System
Samarakoon, the Head of the Department
and Sustainability - Eco
of Computer Engineering shared their • Environment
Credit
ideas with the audience respectively. The
• Medical and Healthcare - tinyPod
rules and guidelines of the Hackathon
and Irrigation - Compost
were then announced by the organizers. • Agriculture
Quality Analyzer
From then onwards, 23 teams pitched their
• LifeStyle - Uniboard
innovative ideas on stage, including a brief
explanation as to how they are going to • Best Idea - Nuwan Jaliyagoda for Eco
Credit
implement it within the next one and a half
Loser - Smart Mushroom Cultivation
days. The contestants were given 4 minutes • Best
Control Room
for pitching and 2 minutes for Q&A from
the panel of judges which comprised of the ACES Hackathon 2019 officially came to
members of the academic staff and industry an end with the Vote of Thanks by Chamin
Jayasuriya, the secretary of ACES. He
professionals.
thanked the Academic staff, the organizing
Day 2 of the ACES Hackathon commenced committee of the ACES Hackathon 2019,
in the faculty around 8 am. Participants panel of Judges, representatives of the
cheerfully worked along with their projects, industry and the sponsors for their
as the Alumni of the university mentored encouragement and helping hand.
the projects. The prototypes were built,
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