The School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Westminster hosted a Problem-Solving International Hackathon on 28 February, seeing over 400 students from three institutions across the globe solve questions in maths, logic and programming.
The Problem-Solving International Hackathon was organised by the School of Computer Science and Engineering and was hosted at the same time at the three different institutions. Joining Westminster were two universities from Westminster’s Global Partner Network, the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) in Colombo, Sri Lanka and Westminster International University (WIUT) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Over 400 students from the three institutions took part in the event. Grouped in teams of three or four, with a total of 110 teams representing one of the participating universities, they had 90 minutes to solve as many questions as possible in maths, logic and programming.
The battle of wits was won by two teams who tied for first place. The winners were Nigina Davronova, Akbarkhuja Khaydarkhujaev, Sabrina Shamsiddinova and Dilnura Yuldosheva from Team TECH from WIUT, and Mithuna Chandrasekaran, Dinuk Shivakumar, Abishtakan Sivachandrathevan and Aqdhas Ali from Team IIT2 from IIT. Team WUIT4 from WIUT, made up of Kuvonchbek Normakhmatov, Akmaljon Samandarov and Khusan Kholmatov, took home third place.
About the event Yasiru Dassanayake, Computer Science BSc Honours student at the University of Westminster, said: “It was great! There should be more events like this Hackathon!”
Another Westminster Computer Science BSc Honours student, Fran Mowat, added: “An amazing event today! I and all of my teammates had a fantastic time, and thoroughly enjoyed getting stuck into the problem-solving challenges.”
The Hackathon was organised by Dr Andrea Martina, Assistant Head of School and Director of International at Westminster, Dr Tom Oliver, Ebad Majeed and Sadaseevam Nagandiram, Lecturers in Westminster’s School of Computer Science and Engineering, Shirin Primkulova, Course Leader of the of the BSc Business Information System course at WIUT and Lakshan Costa, Senior Lecturer at IIT.
Dr Martina, said: “It is fantastic seeing so many students working together in a friendly competition. This event not only allows our students to put themselves in the game but also fosters collaboration and boosts networking among them. Hosting the hackathon in three different institutions and in three countries aims to push international boundaries and create an inclusive tech challenge!
“Many teams were formed on the day, and sometimes, students did not know each other before. This did not stop them from managing a complex situation within a limited time and achieving excellent results.
“We know that teamwork, problem-solving and time management are some of the key skills students need to face in today's job industry. The ways how they can learn and improve them are various; this hackathon was definitely one of them and it represents one of the alternative teaching methods we apply here at Westminster.”
Find out more about the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Westminster.
