A website that helps hospitals employ medical workers during staffing shortages has won first place at the 2020 Annual NYUAD International Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World.
The annual Hackathon, which was held online for the first time this year due to COVID-19 precautions, saw more than 170 programmers join the event virtually from around the world.
Participants were tasked with creating applications focused on the COVID-19 pandemic that addressed issues in diverse fields impacted by the virus such as health, education, film, music, business, and science.
The winning submission, Health Hero Match, uses artificial intelligence to allow medical workers to connect with hospitals with staffing shortages during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“This online hackathon turned out to be an amazing experience. Communication, teamwork, great ideas, good laughs - it was all there. Our team H2M came together like nothing else and we felt like we were creating something significant all the way through. I'm really happy to have been a part of it.”
NYU Abu Dhabi student Máté Hekfusz.
During the three-day hackathon, students were supported by over 35 mentors, and in the final session, they presented their innovative solutions to a panel of nearly 30 distinguished judges, including NYUAD Vice Chancellor Mariët Westermann.
Organizer, Founder and Chair for the Annual NYUAD International Hackathon, Clinical Professor of Computer Science at NYU New York Sana Odeh said the submission will have direct impact on the fight against the pandemic.
“It’s impressive to see all of the teams succeed in building innovative applications in such a short time while only working online. All of the winning applications will significantly impact the fight against COVID-19 both within and beyond the Arab world.”
Supported by MIT Hacking Medicine and Outlier Fund, the event provides an opportunity for students to experience the full cycle of creating a tech startup. The program takes the teams through the processes of pitching ideas, learning new platforms, developing mobile and web applications, and working within a team.
H2M was developed by NYU Abu Dhabi student Máté Hekfusz, NYU student Monica Chang, and five other students from four different countries.
The ninth edition of the programming marathon was attended by students from Algeria, Argentina, Canada, China, Morocco, Palestine, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, US, France, Ghana, Jordan, Lebanon, as well as the UAE.