Team Phoenix from the University of Moratuwa were adjudged the winners of the inaugural SLASSCOM 4iR Hackathon at the grand finale of the event that was held at the Kingsbury Colombo recently.
Organized by the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASCOM) in partnership with Virtusa and Virtusa xLabs, the event sought to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among Sri Lankans and help startups in the country embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution. Promoting team building and planning, this ‘First in Sri Lanka’ event allowed both university students and industry professionals to ideate, prototype and present solutions to a panel of industry leaders and investors.
The winning team comprising four students from the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering at the UoM, wowed the judges with their invention of a wearable which uses IoT and machine learning technology to track and compile foot pressure data to predict symptoms related to diabetes. They walked away with the grand prize of Rs.500,000.
The four runners up – The TeamName (University of Moratuwa), Tekto (Independent), Scorpion (University of Moratuwa), and Hash Beats (University of Moratuwa) – received cash awards of Rs. 100,000 each.
31 teams comprising of a total of 3-5 young digital disruptors each took part in the first round that was held at the Taj Samudra on the 17th and 18th of March. The teams developed solutions based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented / Virtual / Mixed Reality (AR/VR/MR) and Microservices over a 24 hour period. The teams benefitted from the live feedback offered by mentors from SLASSCOM and Virtusa who were on hand.
A panel of judges picked 14 projects for the finals based on the teams’ presentations. These finalists then presented their solutions to the final panel of judges from SLASSCOM and Virtusa Senthilkumar Ravindran, Executive Vice President – Global Head of xLabs, Virtusa; Stephen Holmes, Vice President – FinTech Lab, Virtusa; Chandika Mendis, Executive Vice President, Virtusa, Naresha Supramaniam, Senior Vice President – Delivery, Thushera Kawdawatta, Vice President – Technology, Virtusa; Chamindra De Silva, Vice President – Technology, Virtusa, Jagath De Silva, Senior Director – Delivery and Harindu Abeygunawardena – Director , SLASSCOM.
