{"id":59702,"date":"2023-11-10T17:53:20","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T15:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/index.php\/listen-in-prof-crouch-on-the-annual-vice-chancellors-cycle-challenge-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-11-10T18:03:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T16:03:49","slug":"spu-students-excel-at-al-hackathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/index.php\/spu-students-excel-at-al-hackathon\/","title":{"rendered":"SPU students excel at AI Hackathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"59702\" class=\"elementor elementor-59702\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-29c0ea7d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"29c0ea7d\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3265abb3\" data-id=\"3265abb3\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5ecd5d38 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5ecd5d38\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A formidable team from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Sol Plaatje University (SPU)<\/span><\/a>, consisting of five students, has achieved remarkable success at the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/mlab.co.za\/aimashup\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">AI Mashup Hackathon<\/span><\/a>. Hosted by <a href=\"https:\/\/mlab.co.za\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">mLab<\/span><\/a> at the <a href=\"https:\/\/galeshewesmmevillage.co.za\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Galeshewe SMME Village<\/span><\/a> from 3 to 5 November 2023, the event was a showcase of the brightest minds in technology. The SPU team distinguished themselves by winning significant awards and securing an influential role in the national tech ecosystem.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The SPU team, known as the SoldierUP Hackers, includes students from the School of Natural and Applied Sciences:<\/p><ul style=\"text-align: justify;\"><li>Dimpho Maboee, a Computer Science Honours student and an intern at Student Affairs.<\/li><li>Mishi Makade, a Data Science Honours student.<\/li><li>Kitso Marake, an undergraduate Data Science student.<\/li><li>Malvin Rotondwa Heavy Maphosa, a Data Science Honours student.<\/li><li>Liyema Ngqezu, an ICT undergraduate student.<\/li><\/ul><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The hackathon served as a dynamic platform for the team, enabling them to demonstrate their skills and synergistic approach. Emphasising gender balance, with a majority of women on the team, they underscored the crucial role of women in technology.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The SoldierUP Hackers triumphed in the provincial challenge, winning R10 000, and subsequently won the national title, securing an additional R40 000. This totalled their prize money to an impressive R50 000. The team eagerly anticipates the mentoring programme part of the prize that will aid in refining and implementing their cutting-edge solution.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Their winning entry, a CV2Role matching system, uses artificial intelligence to offer inclusive solutions for employment-related challenges, addressing problem statements from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yes4youth.co.za\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Youth Employment Services<\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mtn.co.za\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">MTN.<\/span><\/a><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Reflecting on their achievement, team members Kitso, Malvin and Mishi commented, \u201cWe were thrilled and nervous, but our cohesive teamwork and dedication were instrumental in our victory. We always believe that failure only occurs when one ceases to try.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Dimpho, drawing inspiration from Buckminster Fuller\u2019s quote, \u201cYou never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete,\u201d sees this triumph as a foundation for creating ground-breaking technological solutions.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The SoldierUP Hackers\u2019 accomplishments at the AI Mashup Hackathon exemplify the high calibre of students at Sol Plaatje University. Their success a reflection of their individual talents, as well as a testament to the university\u2019s dedication to nurturing innovation and excellence in technology. We can\u2019t wait to see what they do next!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A formidable team from Sol Plaatje University (SPU), consisting of five students, has achieved remarkable success at the recent AI Mashup Hackathon. Hosted by mLab at the Galeshewe SMME Village from 3 to 5 November 2023, the event was a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spu.ac.za\/index.php\/spu-students-excel-at-al-hackathon\/\" class=\"read-more\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,57],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"coauthors":[185],"class_list":["post-59702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-spu-student-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SPU students excel at AI Hackathon - 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