By Cyrus A Natividad
The SEntralians with Rev. Francis Neil G. Jalando-on during the PolyHack 2023 at Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Before the SEntralians boarded their plane for Hong Kong, they received a news that their project has made it to the final round of PolyHack 2023 competition. Thanks to the timely support of CPU President Dr. Ted Robles; VP for Finance and Administration Dr. Florence Bogacia; College of Engineering Dean Engr. Dany Molina, the team were able to go to the final pitching held at Hong Kong Polytechnic University on June 24, 2023, and presented their project face to face.
Members of Team SEntralians who represented the Philippines and Central Philippine University were George Jose Abaygar, Hans Gabriel Daduya, Matthew Ledesma, Mykiell Deovenn Pagayonan, and Rafael III Prudente, students of CPU Software Engineering (SE). They prepared extensively in order to make an excellence presentation.
For Rafael, “It was an honor to work alongside such talented and dedicated individuals, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity. I had the privilege to be a part of the group of remarkable Centralians.”
He said that “my perspective on this experience goes beyond just the competition itself. Throughout my college journey, I have dreamed to leave a lasting impact on my university, specifically within the Software Engineering (SE) department. I believe that my purpose is to inspire and influence others in a positive way. Prudente added that, “It has been a tremendous source of pride and accomplishment. As a result of our hard work and dedication, we have managed to get the interest of younger students who aspire to pursue Software Engineering. I am humbled by their curiosity and their inquiries about our progress during the competition in Hong Kong.”
The Team has been representing Central Philippine University in numerous national and global competitions, including PolyHack 2023. Their participation in Hong Kong has inspired students of CPU and contributes to the University’s image as one excellent school for development.
Another success factor for Mykiell is motivation. He said that “The biggest blockade of actually creating a quality output, is being able to stick through the project and finish. Only 40% of the participants were able to properly pass a business plan in the ideation phase. That was something we had to keep in mind, and ensure we had high spirits throughout the competition.”
According to Mykiel, they were given three challenges to choose from: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Financial Technology, and Smart City (Internet of Things).
For Matthew, “PolyHack was quite an interesting competition out of the different Hackathons I’ve encountered. Although the requirements are strict, it challenged us to explore solutions to specific problem, in our case, the use of AI to aid in mental health. After coming up with Voice Vault and receiving the news to represent our team in Hong Kong, we were very excited to travel since it was a first for all of the members to fly abroad for a competition. I am very proud of our performance and glad that I have gained experience from this hackathon.
What George said was that “Our discussion about solution was great fun with the team and I thought that my juniors are going to be brighter than I am. During the implementation phase, I wasn’t able to help out as much as I wanted until we got together for a day to really work on it, that day was a lot of fun. And then on the pitching, I was really nervous that to calm myself I rapped in silence ‘till I collapsed, and then I tried to give my best.
“Polyhack was my first ever international hackathon, said Hans, who has been to a lot of hackathons in the past but all of them were conducted online since it was during the pandemic.
Hong Kong was really fun. It was my first time visiting the country and I enjoyed the food, places, and people. Polyhack was great. I had a chance to see the campus of Polytechnic University of Hong Kong and met the organizers responsible for the event as well as the other participants who came from all over the globe. I also got to answer a few questions during the Q and A.
The Team Sentralians received a Merit award for being in the top 15 among the 700 groups in the PolyHack competition 2023. Rev. Francis Neil G. Jalando-on, CPU Director for Communications was able to meet and support the team during the awarding ceremony on June 24, 2023 at the Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.