CONESTOGA COLLEGE
Women's hackathon challenges teams to create apps focused on e-waste

Teams of three or four students with the majority needing to be women were given the theme on October 23 to start building their projects, which they presented to a panel of judges on October 25.

Students were challenged to create an application around e-waste, like one that allows users to find nearby waste collection points, an educational platform that raises awareness about e-waste or an upcycling marketplace.

Judges awarded top honours to Green Galaxy, created by Malika Chugh, Rikhi Singh and Shreya Ghimire.

Chugh summed up the team's project: "Green Galaxy is an interactive, gamified platform designed to engage users in sustainable practices through three unique worlds Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Each world offers fun challenges, quizzes, and creative upcycling opportunities to educate users on waste management and environmental sustainability."

The trio called the hackathon an incredible experience, challenging them to think creatively about real-world issues and develop a solution that promotes environmental consciousness.

"The event was truly eye-opening for me. Brainstorming ideas and working collaboratively on a real-world problem was both fun and educational. Applying my skills in this context made me realize the potential we have to use technology for impactful change," Chugh said.

This was the first hackathon for both Chugh and Ghimire.

"It was exciting to collaborate with the talented people and to learn, innovate and build something meaningful together in such a short time. The event fostered a great sense of community and support, and I'm proud of what we achieved as a team," Ghimire said.

Singh participated in last year's ConHacks student hackathon, and that experience helped approach this competition with more confidence and skill.

"Working on Green Galaxy was an exciting challenge, the development especially was really exciting as it was developed using the latest technologies along with actual public hosting rather than just a prototype," Singh said. "Each of my teammates played a high-impact role in bringing Green Galaxy to life and creating something that promotes sustainability."

Ig Kolenko, director of Innovation Special Projects, said the Green Galaxy app is a great example of innovation and the novel approach of their game to teach the importance of the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) through a planet metaphor was well conceived. The team's analysis of financial and sustainability plans for the long-term demonstrated how they understood both the hackathon theme and the business sense they'll need as future entrepreneurs.

"The team showed excellent business and entrepreneurial awareness through their gamified solution for the hackathon theme," Kolenko said.

All the teams did a great job on the challenge, he added. "As a judge, I was totally impressed by the output of all teams participating in the Women's Hackathon. Every team presented something unique to tackle the pressing issue around the need to recycle e-waste and textiles, as both are becoming world-wide problems related to overconsumption."

Kolenko told the participants that events like the hackathon are a great way to hone soft skills essential in the IT industry including working in a team and being able to communication a solution. He encouraged the students to put themselves out there by joining competitions and networking events, and later apply for positions that may be beyond their skill set.

"Take the risks because at some point you will be rewarded," Kolenko said. "Things will evolve as time goes on and you will find your niche in the industry."

Conestoga's School of Applied Computer Science & Information Technology offers a 21st-century education that prepares graduates for exciting careers in the innovative world of information and communications technology. Project-based and work-integrated learning enables students to solve real-world problems and engage in new technologies that empower a professional journey in a rapidly growing sector.