UoN Hosts Faculty Hackathon Ahead of NIW 2024

The University of Nairobi held a Faculty Hackathon featuring teams across the ten faculties. With each team consisting of five students, they pitched innovative ideas aimed at solving various challenges in the world today.

Out of the 69 teams that participated in the hackathon, 32 made it to the next round which will be held during the upcoming Nairobi Innovation Week scheduled for 8^th to 10^th May at the University of Nairobi. The top five teams out of the 32 included: Move na Songa, Climate Guard, Letra Wind, BM Tech and Simbi.ai respectively.

Day one of the hackathon featured insightful stories from startup pioneers in Kenya. During a panel discussion titled ‘From Campus to Companies’, students were exposed to the entrepreneurial journeys of founders from start-ups i.e, Startinev, Payd and Quikk API. The students also participated in a Business Model Canvas Workshop where they created frameworks to define their value proposition in the market and ensure a clear roadmap for their ventures.

“Innovation and Commercialization is one of our major pillars as a University. We must structure our pedagogy to give students value that enables them to create wealth and opportunities,” emphasized the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kiama, in his opening remarks.

“For the past 8 years, the University of Nairobi has organized The Nairobi Innovation Week with a sole purpose to assist students & staff in showcasing their ideas and expertise in problem solving and sharing knowledge across the nation. We are delighted to register a huge turnout for our first ever faculty – wide hackathon with a total of 179 teams and about 500 students answering the call,” noted Prof. Mary Kinoti, Director Intellectual property Management Office.

Participants also delved into practical workshops on day two with a focus on laying foundations for their projects. The Design Thinking Workshop introduced them to a human centered problem solving approach. The Business Storytelling Workshop guided students on how to effectively pitch their ideas to potential investors.

Day three of the hackathon was all about pitching. The participants got the opportunity to share their innovations with a panel of judges as well as an audience. The emerging 32 teams will be battling for a grand prize worth Ksh. 1,000,000 to be divided amongst the top 10 teams.