Student awarded environmental prize in Hack for Sweden 2019
To connect the environmental challenges to our own backyard with the use of an educational groundwater level application. That was the idea that won Adelric Wong and his team the Green Award at the Hack for Sweden 2019 hackathon on April 4-6 in Stockholm.
“I'm still amazed and overwhelmed with joy that my team and our idea won. The effort and dedication we placed into working out an idea has turned into fruition.” says Adelric Wong, student at the Software Engineering and Management bachelor’s programme at the University of Gothenburg.
Over 500 people from academia, public and the private sector came together in Hack for Sweden on April 4-6 with one simple purpose: working to build tools for the benefit of the society. Eighteen students from the Software Engineering and Management bachelor’s programme was able to participate in the hackathon thanks to the dedication of the student association Ctrl-Alt-Team (CAT) and the teacher Francisco Gomes at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
“A hackathon offers new perspectives and ways of thinking, and you gain practical development experience. It also offers invaluable networking, you'll never know when you'll need such contacts again.” says Adelric Wong.
The overall framework from Hack for Sweden is the Agenda 2030 and the UN:s 17 global goals. This year’s hackathon focused on sustainability and creating real tools for the good of the society. The six award categories were Mobility, Green, Education and Science, Job, Business, and Health. Adelric Wong’s team VATTN took home the Green Award with their idea for an educational groundwater level dashboard application. The app could be used for water preparedness for households, and commercial and agricultural sectors. It’s especially relevant for Sweden as most of the households attain their water beneath the ground through wells over the summer.
As one of the winnings teams, VATTN was awarded 30 000 SEK and are invited to Almedalen on July 5, where they will get the opportunity to present how far they have come in realizing their winning solution.
The students from Software Engineering and Management bachelor’s programme, participating in Hack for Sweden 2019. Photo: Hannah Maltkvist and Adelric Wong/Ctrl-Alt-Team