Virtual hackathon drives student innovations in business
In partnership with ServiceNow and CSA, Western Sydney University has delivered its second annual Western Virtual Hackathon.
As part of ServiceNow’s NextGen Program, final year students from the University’s School of Business and School of Computer, Data and Mathematical Sciences came together to develop impactful solutions to real-world business problems during the five-day event.
The students participated in three days of training to engage with the ServiceNow platform — an innovative solution for digital workflows for enterprise operations, followed by two days of challenges, sprints and networking as part of teams.
The winning team — the ‘App Alpha Clan’ — included students Adam Scarpitti, Ambreen Irshad, Fatema Fatema and Rabina Padhy.
Rabina, who studies the Master of Data Science at the University, said the event was an opportunity for her to test her knowledge in real-time and to gain access to tremendous mentors.
“My experience was fantastic due to the excellent team members and mentors I was paired with. We all worked together to support each other and to develop an innovative solution to help students connect with supervisors for research projects,” said Rabina.
Bachelor of Information and Communications Technology student Adam Scarpitti said he would recommend students enter future Hackathons as they provide great industry experience and networking opportunities.
“Learning about ServiceNow not only showed me how the platform can be utilised to create solutions for a wide range of tasks, but also put me on track to obtain certifications and possibly a job that involves ServiceNow,” said Adam.
In addition to the winning team, information and communication student Abhinav Bahuguna was recognised as the standout student of the week.
Each participant of the Hackathon will be awarded a certification exam voucher valued at $300 by ServiceNow and a $50 gift voucher provided by CSA. In addition, CSA will offer a number of students exciting internship opportunities to develop their business solutions.
The University’s Executive Director, People and Success, Christopher Youness, said the event was an invaluable opportunity for students to further develop their skills, connect with industry, and gain exposure to the global ServiceNow platform.
“The University is pleased to provide its students with interactive and unique opportunities like the Western Virtual Hackathon to support their professional development,” said Mr Youness.
“In addition to developing business solutions in a pressurised environment, the students were able to further their career aspirations by connecting with a range of potential employers and mentors.”
Kristen Knepper Bahbahani, Director, Academic Programs, at ServiceNow said: “Some of my most memorable and meaningful experiences as a student were when I was able to practice ‘real-world’ scenarios.”
“I know that the partnership between ServiceNow NextGen and Western Sydney University will allow students the same opportunities. I can’t wait to see what creative solutions these teams build!”
James White, General Manager, Marketing at CSA commented: “We get extremely excited being involved in initiatives like these. This hackathon is a unique opportunity to connect students and industry, through a leading global technology in ServiceNow.”
“Students get hands-on, immersive experience in creating solutions to solve real-world problems, which is what we do for our clients on a daily basis. As a company that is always looking for talent to join our team, it’s a fantastic way for us to directly connect with young technologists that are about to join the workforce.”
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