Team FeatureGenerator won third prize at CanYouHackIt 2023 Hackathon

Team FeatureGenerator, which consists of students from Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science and Centre for Foundation Studies, and graduates of Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, won Third Prize at the CanYouHackIt 2023 Hackathon (Grand Final), held on 26 November 2023 at Hong Leong Tower, Kuala Lumpur. The team, which triumphed over 81 teams in the nationwide competition, took home a cash prize of RM2,500, a trophy, certificates and limited-edition Hong Leong Bank hoodies.

From left: Jacynth, Tan Jing Jie and Choo

Team FeatureGenerator during the preliminary round

The team consisted of Bachelor of Science (Honours) Software Engineering student Choo Jia Zheng, Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) student Tan Jing Jie, Foundation in Science student Victor Wong Kim Fung, and Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) graduates Jacynth Tham Ming Quan and Tan Wei Mun.  They developed an app, known as Evestai, featuring AI-driven gamified learning, personalised onboarding, a discriminative trading bot, and digital advisory, that aimed to deliver a tailored and interactive financial investment experience.

The team leader, Tan Jing Jie said, “The hackathon emerged as a pivotal platform, allowing us to spotlight our machine learning capabilities, notably in the domain of GenAI—an area deeply intertwined with the essence of my ongoing PhD research. Within this competitive arena, we harnessed the opportunity to practically apply and exemplify the theoretical frameworks and innovations central to my doctoral work. Our success in the competition served as a tangible testament to the fusion of academic rigour and practical implementation, underscoring the impactful strides made in advancing machine learning technologies within the context of my research objectives.”

Choo Jia Zheng shared, “I believe that participating in hackathons like this can give you better hands-on experience that will not be provided in the university. Furthermore, you get to experience a glimpse of what it is like to work with people. Overall, I am grateful for my team and their hard work which brought us this victory.”

The hackathon aimed to provide an opportunity for the participants to co-create and validate ideas with industry experts in real-life scenarios; to be mentored by industry leaders and experts; and to be scouted for potential roles within the Hong Leong Bank & Hong Leong Group.

Second from left: Jacynth, Tan Jing Jie and Choo

The team’s trophy