A Bloc and Aalto University put campus services under hack in Junction 2018

Aalto University’s main building will host Junction on 23–25 November, when coders from around the world will tackle industry-set challenges.

Aalto University is one of the Junction 2018 partners, and together with shopping center A Bloc challenges coders to develop the services of the campus area.

Teams participating in the challenge are given access to data of Otaniemi’s wireless network, detailing how, where and when the flow of people moves around campus.

To be able to visualise and demonstrate their solutions, the Cityscope urban planning tool from City Science Lab @ Aalto, a collaboration between Aalto University and MIT Media Lab, will also be available.

The goal of the challenge is to improve service planning, facility leasing, retail sales and customer satisfaction on the campus by analysing the people flow data.

With more than 1 300 participants representing 105 nationalities, the continent’s biggest hackathon will take place this weekend at Aalto University in Finland. More than 7 000 applications were received for the 48-hour event, now running for the fourth consecutive year.

In teams of up to five, participants will work from Friday afternoon at 16:00 to Sunday morning at 10:00 to solve programming challenges defined by companies and other organisations. The winning team, to be announced Sunday at 17:30, can look forward to a main prize worth €20 000.

Partners have created challenges on 11 themes including artificial intelligence, urban planning and transport services as well as blockchain technology, the Internet of things and digital business. Health tech and the gaming industry are also represented.

For companies, the hackathon provides an opportunity to discover new talent as well as solutions for real problems, while students get a chance to demonstrate their abilities to potential employers.

Junction 2018 is arranged by an international community of student volunteers. The event first got its start from the Aalto Entrepreneurship Society, or Aaltoes, also responsible for the world’s leading startup event Slush and the Kiuas incubator programme.

The event is taking place for the second time at Aalto University’s main building, Dipoli, which volunteers will restyle for the weekend with a recycling theme.

 

Photo: Mikko Raskinen / Aalto University