Hackathon winners using AI to help businesses reduce carbon footprint
Unitec student team Sustainable Data Miners won first place in a recent generative artificial intelligence (AI) Hackathon hosted by Unitec’s School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and AI partner Promptech.
Their winning project was a carbon footprint tracking solution, designed to help businesses educate employees on monitoring and analysing their carbon footprint, and receiving actionable recommendations on reducing it — all without compromising business performance.
Team leader Rakibul Hoque, a final year Business Analytics student at Unitec, says he entered the Hackathon because it offered the opportunity to extend his technical skills and innovative thinking in an area that he feels passionate about.
"I entered the GenAI Hackathon to challenge myself and collaborate with like-minded individuals passionate about leveraging technology for sustainability,” he says.
“Our winning solution aims to significantly reduce carbon footprints by providing actionable insights.
“I hope this project inspires others to innovate and contribute to a more sustainable future.”
Over three-days, 18 teams of ākonga and professionals supported by more than 30 industry mentors and organisers, used Amazon Bedrock generative AI to develop app-based solutions aligned with the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The Hackathon structure included a series of mentoring sessions designed to help participants understand the problem statements and align their solutions with real-world challenges.
Mentors coached and advised teams on refining their ideas and preparing them for their final presentations. This support allowed teams to not only build innovative solutions but also to learn how to effectively pitch their ideas to a panel of industry and academic experts, boosting their confidence and presentation skills.
Senior lecturer in the School of Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology, Dr Masoud Shakiba, complemented all the participating teams on their level of application and innovation around the sustainability theme.
“What truly stands out to me is the power of the community,” he says. “I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with so many inspiring individuals and teams who poured their hearts into this event. Thank you to everyone who joined, mentored, sponsored and supported the Hackathon.
“It provided unique networking opportunities for our students, as well as internship and partnership opportunities for our School and wider Unitec community.
“This experience was a testament to the power of collaboration—and I can’t wait to see what we all create next!”
Dr. Haren Samarasekera, head of enterprise and greenfield for AWS New Zealand, adds:
“Generative AI is one of the most transformational technologies of our generation, and it’s great to see so many teams experimenting with it to show its potential in solving challenging problems, augmenting human performance, and maximising productivity.
“These events are one of the many ways AWS is working to upskill Kiwis, in line with our target to equip 100,000 people in New Zealand with cloud skills over five years.
“It’s been great collaborating with Te Pūkenga to create a vibrant and diverse technology community here in Aotearoa.”
The winning projects and teams are as follows:
First place ($4,000 cash prize) – Getting control of carbon footprint with ECOLENS.
Team Sustainable Data Miners (SDM)
Dina Abramova, Harshit Mangukiya, Mithila Kamaraj, Mohammad Rakibul Hoque (team leader), Shamali Lilanga Perera.
Second Place ($1,500 cash prize) – MediBot – an interactive chatbot for healthcare.
Team Hive-Five
Kumudu Harshani Fonseka, Kalani Bandara, Sandumi Jayasekara (team leader), Sewmini Dananji Gunawardhana, Shivorn Geeth.
Third Place ($750 cash prize) – DataFlow – eutrophication solution
Team AWSome Generators
Akiko Ikeda (team leader), Hannah Baek, Laura Alice Baker, Monika Taylova, Shayneel Chand.
Two tickets to the M2 AI Summit 2025
JP Gillespie and Teri Teei
Internship at Vxceed
To be announced
