Last Saturday (2/6) marked the end of the 3-day SW-Centered University Joint Hackathon hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT from February 4th, and we achieved great results.
The 2021 SW-Centered University Joint Hackathon was an event where software developers and designers from 39 universities designated as SW-centered universities, including KAIST, formed teams to implement apps, services, libraries, etc. that fit the given theme.
Four people were selected from each university, and I was chosen as my school's representative developer to participate. Due to COVID-19, it was conducted online with 188 participants gathered.
Idea Registration and Team Building
Ideas could be registered for 5 days before the hackathon began. I registered the idea "Solution for Focus in Untact Situations." This was the 6th idea registered, and immediately after registration, I received team participation requests from over 20 participants.
I ultimately selected 5 team members:
- Byeongkyu (Frontend/Full-stack)
- Jihee (Backend)
- Jio (Machine Learning)
- Yejun (Design)
- Me (Team Leader/Planning)
Day 1
Idea Pitching and Team Building
Although the team was already formed, we held an idea definition meeting based on "Why-How-What."
Development Start
Tech Stack:
- Frontend: React, Antd UI Framework
- Backend: Node.js, Django
- Database: MySQL, Redis
- Cloud: AWS EC2, S3
The team communicated through Slack, Notion Kanban board, and Zoom meetings every 3 hours.
Day 2
After about 3 hours of sleep, we continued development.
My role shifted to product manager (PM), handling communication between developers and designers.
Core Features:
- Service where AI detects concentration levels in real-time
- Real-time video transmission using WebRTC API
- Utilizing OpenVidu
- Facial direction recognition using TensorFlow
Service Name Decision:
- Team name: FocusWithMe
- Service name: "Dive In" (the feeling of diving into a pool together and getting immersed)
We improved the project by receiving feedback from mentors.
Day 3 and Submission
I fell asleep around 5 AM and woke up at 8 AM to complete the presentation materials.
Although we couldn't implement all the originally planned features (focus timeline, various situation recognition, reward system, competition features with friends), we completed the core functionality (face presence and direction recognition).
We finished the final project 1 hour before submission.
Presentation and Awards
The final presentation allowed 3 minutes per team.
We shared a presentation video timed at 2 minutes and 47 seconds, and actual service demonstration was possible through our domain.
Result: Grand Prize Winner!
We were selected through votes from participants, SW-centered university professors, and industry experts.
This was my first pure hackathon experience, and I achieved first place in both of my two hackathon participations.
Through interactions with developers and designers from across the nation, I confirmed my passion and skills for development. I'm scheduled to start a Naver internship in March and am considering military enlistment before my senior year. I hope to deploy this service together with my team members.