NUST innovators sweep top spots at hackathon

Students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) made a clean sweep at the recently held 2024 Ballerina Hackathon, securing the top three positions.The competition was a collaborative effort between NUST and WS02, a global software giant.The event challenged developers to innovate in application programming interface (API) integration, microservices orchestration and event-driven systems, NUST public relations officer Cindy van Wyk said in a statement issued by the university. A total of 24 teams competed, with the focus on addressing real-world technological integration challenges.The competition revolved around Ballerina, an open-source programming language tailored for cloud-native development.WinnersNUST second-year software engineering student Frans Nekongo won first place with an inventive feedback and memo system, leveraging Ballerina, Kafka and MongoDB.The project, designed to revolutionise communication processes, earned him US$500 (approximately N$9 000).“I plan to refine my project’s features and deploy it globally using the Choreo platform,” he said.The Tech Mavericks duo, Isabel Tchikenge and Theodore Ndenge, secured second place, winning US$300 (about N$5 400).Their microservices solution aimed at healthcare automation underscored Ballerina’s potential in streamlining medical operations.In third place, team AttendMasters – comprising Ismael Mudjanima, Asher Samwaka, Saya Mubiana and Miles Katjimune – won US$200 (around N$3 600) for their digital attendance register.This project promises to simplify NUST’s administrative systems while enhancing campus efficiency.The competition also bridged the gap between academia and industry.“The guidance from the Ballerina team, my lecturer Ms Nashandi, and the NUST community made this an unforgettable experience,” Mudjanima remarked.

NUST innovators sweep top spots at hackathon

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-31

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NUST innovators sweep top spots at hackathon

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-31

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