PhD Engineering student wins championship at Cisco AI Hackathon 2024

UTAR Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science (LKC FES) Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) student Tan Jing Jie achieved a remarkable milestone in his recent technological endeavour at the Cisco AI Hackathon 2024.

Alongside his teammates Yong Wern Jie, Lio Sean Guan, How Ching Yen and Kim Ming Xuan from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and the Southern University College (Southern UC), the team emerged as the Champion of the AI hackathon, held from 8 October to 18 December 2024 via online platforms. They were awarded a cash prize of RM3,000 and certificates.

The results were announced on 18 December 2024 at the head office of Cisco Systems (M) Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur.

The team’s award-winning project was titled Alcademy: Your AI Partner in Beating Academic Procrastination. It was an AI-driven learning platform designed to combat procrastination and enhance education through interactive and personalised experiences. Powered by cutting-edge technologies from Cisco and Hugging Face, the innovative project integrated lectures, practical sessions and certifications with real-world applications to make learning engaging and impactful.

“Procrastination affects over 80% of students worldwide, leading to reduced academic performance and productivity. We were inspired to address this issue by building a solution that encourages active participation, provides instant feedback and motivates users through gamification and personalised assistance,” Tan said.

With incorporated technologies such as Cisco AI and ML (Machine Learning) models, Hugging Face’s Large Language Model (LLM), Cisco SecureX, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS), Alcademy offered a secure, personalised and easily accessible learning experience. Moreover, it also featured an interactive platform, an Easter eggs reward mechanism, and a personalised AI chatbot, empowering learners to enhance their academic engagement and skills via digitalised lectures, assessments and resources.

Tan explained, “Alcademy’s transformative approach to education addresses procrastination, fosters engagement and provides practical solutions to bridge the gap between knowledge and real-world application.”

Delighted to work closely with peers from UTM and Southern UC, Tan expressed his gratitude to academics, Dr Seah Choon Sen and Ms Loh Yin Xia, for connecting him with students from the two universities. “I greatly value the opportunity to collaborate with others and share my experiences during the competition,” Tan enthused.

Meanwhile, Tan also thanked his PhD supervisor Dr Kwan Ban Hoe, an academic from UTAR LKC FES, for the support and encouragement he received to participate in the AI hackathon. “Dr Kwan’s encouragement provided me with an opportunity to showcase my research and development skills in a practical setting,” Tan said.

In addition, three Bachelor of Science (Honours) Software Engineering students Serena Chin Wai Lam, Tan Zhi Yang, and Cheng Wee Lee also displayed exceptional technological expertise at the Cisco AI Hackathon 2024, clinching Second Runner-up with their innovative project AI Private Tutor, an AI platform designed to provide personalised education. The team was awarded a cash prize of RM1,000 and certificates.

Cisco AI Hackathon 2024

The Cisco AI Hackathon 2024, jointly organised by Cisco, UTM, and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), was an AI competition aimed at inspiring students and raising awareness about Cisco’s innovative solutions in the field of AI. Themed AI for Smart Education, the hackathon not only served as a platform to foster existing collaboration between Cisco and UTM in the field of AI but also inspire creativity, build AI skills and create excitement and awareness of AI technologies among university students. Besides providing a competitive platform, the AI hackathon also included a series of technological workshops, strengthening students’ knowledge and skills on topics such as enterprise networks, data centres, web security and pitch deck preparation and pitching.

The Cisco AI Hackathon 2024 was joined by 55 teams, comprising engineering and computer science students from local higher education institution