Amal Jyothi College aces hackathon at GenAI conclave

July 12, the closing day of India’s first GenAI conclave, saw three student teams going up on stage to be felicitated by P. Rajeev, Kerala’s minister of minister for industries, law and coir, and Dinesh Nirmal, senior vice president (Products), IBM Software. The teams were the finalists in the hackathon organised by IBM for college students. Participating teams had to make AI apps powered by the tech giant’s watsonx platform.

The winning team named XITO—comprised Joel John, Aaron Mathew, Adhil Salim and Raynel Rajeev from Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kanjirapally, in Kottayam district. They took home the jackpot for their Maya app which helps users get curated meals through food-delivery apps. The team members said that the idea came from within as Aaron Mathew has specific food requirements because of allergies, and a generic solution is of no use to such people. ‘Smart Eating, Simplified’ was the tagline for the product.

Team XITO said a user could pre-set his needs in Maya, which would then contact say Swiggy or Zomato and shortlist restaurants serving dishes that match the user’s needs. The user can then pick from the shortlist and enjoy a wholesome meal.

The second prize went to Team Bits & Bytes comprising Joel Jaison, Vinod K.J., Robin Francis and Adwaith Jaishankar from Sahrdaya College of Engineering and Technology, Kodakara, Thrissur district. The team’s SoulSync app was aimed at the silver economy space, which looks at goods and services for older and ageing people. The app was designed as a digital companion for seniors, helping them track their memories and prompting them to talk. It can also be used to remind them to have medicines and to exercise on time.

A member from Team Bits & Bytes said he was inspired by his cousin who worked in the health care sector and was married to a teacher. As the couple would leave for work early and as the husband kept irregular hours, he set up a network of cameras and speakers at home to monitor his aged parents. He would speak to them through the speakers and monitor their movements through the cameras. SoulSync is a more streamlined solution to this challenge, the team said.

The third prize went to NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, for their InSight learning app that helps teachers design custom lessons and exercises for students. Based on the strengths and weaknesses of an individual student, the app could make lesson plans and exercises and update them depending on the progress of the student.

Rajeev and Nirmal congratulated the students for their vision and gave away the prizes.