Students with a smart solution for smart streets won the first prize in the Hackathon of the "Vivacom Technical Academy"
The final of the Hackathon competition format on the topic of "Smart Cities", organized within the framework of the "Vivacom Technical Academy", ended with a victory for the first team of students from the Technical University - Sofia. All three teams that took part in the competition are part of the unique training program that combines academic knowledge with practical experience and work on real technological projects.
The winners - Tatyana Voronina, Desislav Dzhonev, Iliya Iliev and Ivan Mitev - presented an innovative project for street lighting management, which includes the use of motion sensors, in order to increase energy efficiency and security in the urban environment. Their project received the most points according to the assessment of the expert jury of Vivacom and the assessment of the other two teams. The students who developed the smart solution deservedly won first place and a prize – Samsung smart watches.
“The competition activates young people to give their best. And when they encounter something new, they start looking for answers, thinking and that’s how they grow. This is the most valuable thing that the Vivacom Technical Academy Hackathon gives to the participants – a practical environment for applying knowledge, teamwork and developing innovative thinking,” says Georgi Hristov – project manager.
The hackathon brought together 11 students, divided into three teams, who worked intensively for two weeks. During the initiative, they went through a preparatory and mentoring session, and then presented their ideas on the topic of “Smart Cities” in a final session before a jury. All three teams developed technological solutions aimed at real challenges in the urban environment, demonstrating an innovative approach and practical focus. The second team – Anna Postadzhieva, Morio Kotkov and Kaloyan Nikiforov – focused on the problem of access to medical care in remote locations relative to hospitals and emergency centers. They developed a solution with medical drones to optimize the work of emergency medical care and increase the efficiency of rescue activities for people. The third team – Alexander Iliev, Petar Baychev, Svetoslav Dimov and Martin Petkov – developed a technological solution to mediate access to food provided by Bulgarian producers. With their project, they provide more opportunities for people to purchase and consume environmentally friendly food from selected producers.
“Vivacom Technical Academy” continues to be upgraded as a format – with innovative elements such as Hackathon, which adds competitive and practical value to training. I am happy to see how alert, active and creative young people are. They have smart ideas and a real desire to improve people's lives through technology. This is the future of smart cities,” said Nikolay Gavrilov, Chief Technical Officer of Vivacom.
The projects were reviewed and evaluated by a jury consisting of Georgi Hristov, Georgi Blagoev and Georgi Peynekov. The evaluation was carried out according to ten key criteria – among them innovation, applicability, argumentation, financial plan, visualization, teamwork and others, with a maximum total of 50 points. An additional challenge for the participants was the opportunity for each team to evaluate its rivals. This once again encouraged them to analyze and demonstrate critical thinking and cooperation.