Mombasa Hackathon by Nailab
A two day hackathon held in conjunction with Nailab, ICT Authority and JKUAT Mombasa.
The Mombasa Tech Community recently concluded a two day hackathon courtesy of Nailab (www.nailab.co.ke) proudly facilitated by JKUAT Mombasa (www.jkuat.ac.ke/centres/mombasa)
Day 1
The event kicked off on 19th September at 8.00 AM at JKUAT Mombasa with over 100 attendants being welcomed and ushered in by the registration team; Khamis Suleiman, Bryan Opiyo, Magambo Gatobu and Harris Mwashalo who also provided the attendants a kit of freebies.
In no time, the MC, Andrew Mwangi gave the welcoming address and introduced the host, JKUAT Mombasa on stage to also give out a welcome address to everyone present, Dr.Fred Mugambi, Director JKUAT Mombasa CBD Campus gave out a short but captivating speech after which Mr.Collins Ondago, Head of ICT Department JKUAT Mombasa also spoke a few motivating words.
Next on stage were the co-organizers, Mombasa Tech Community who had its community leads, Alifiyah Ganijee and Said Fuad having a brief presentation about what the community is all about, the journey and brains behind it, the achievements made so far and ways to connect with the community, they ended with inspiring and encouraging all the members to create awareness of the same on social media and spread the word around.
With a round applause, the MC welcomed the big boss himself, Mr. Sam Gichuru, CEO & Co-founder Nailab who gave a brief introduction about Nailab, what it is all about, what it does, introduced the team from Nailab and encouarged all the participants to make the best out of the two days, to open up with their ideas and to hack like never before! "An idea is nothing until it is executed" added Mr. Sam. Shortly thereafter, we had the honorable judges being introduced, Ms. Kate Kiguru, Mr. Swaleh Abubakar, Mr. Anthony Odhiambo, Mr. Abdulrehman AlMutwafy and Mr. Billy Odero who motivated the attendants to create applications and come up with ideas that will help solve problems and also their expectations from the same.
Finally, it was time to get down to the actual event, First on stage was Mr. Mbugua Njihia, CEO Symbiotic Media who talked about "The Package" His presentation was based on Entrepreneurs' advice. In short and simple words, he hit the nail right and left the stage with food for thought for everyone. Next on stage was Mr.Billy Odero, Product Development Manager Nailab who led the crowd away with an awesome presentation on User Interface and User Experience in designing, he motivated them to mingle up, share their ideas, talk to people about the ideas and how to come up with a viable idea, he also assured the attendants that it is possible to hack on those ideas in 24 hours! Wasn't this way too interesting?
We then had a quick fire round, so what is the quick fire round all about? Well, this was an opportunity given to all attendants to come up with a great idea and present it to the audience at large given only 3 minutes. In short, wrap your idea in a few lines and present it to the audience specifically convincing the judges and mentors around. It was remarkable seeing over 15 ideas coming up.
Minutes later, attendants were requested to break out into teams and the real hacking began, it was totally amazing seeing how eagerly people started doing so, all in an attempt to make sure that their application wins! As attendants were hacking, mentors went round providing assitance and offering advice where required.
At half past noon, we shortly had a lunch break, it was time to hack pizza and soft drinks ;) I bet everyone was so hungry that the pizzas were over in no time.
After the lunch break, people continued hacking till evening when the MC finally marked the end of the day and requested all attendants to be early and bright the next day; the D-Day :)
Day 2
Moving on to the next day, everyone was up in time and the MC commenced the day by once again welcoming everyone and thereafter with a round applause honored the stage to Ms. Kate Kiguru who inspired everyone with her personal journey of Entrepreneurship. "We begin to change the world when we stimulate long-term prosperity using technology. There is not a problem that's large enough that innovation and entrepreneurship can't solve" Truly it was an eye-opening presentation.Finally, Mr. Swaleh Abubakar was welcomed on stage and he gave an in-depth presentation on minimum viable product which is a product that contains only those features that allow it to be deployed and no more, he talked about marketing strategies of a product and indeed summed it all up.
After the presentations, attendants carried on with hacking on their projects until 1.00 PM when they were requested to take a break off for lunch, the delectable buffet lunch was served in the next room by the Sunrise Resort Apartments and Spa Mombasa. Indeed the lunch was toothsome.
Moments after lunch, participants resumed to make final touches on the betas and the first set of presentations began shortly with each team having strictly 3 minutes to present the prototype, and after a short break the second set of presentations began in the same order. A total of about 18 application ideas were presented and in the end, it was time for the judges to deliberate for a few minutes.
It was a tough decision but yes the wonderful team of judges who positively criticized and challenged the participants finally made it through, it was then time for the most awaited part of the event, the awarding ceremony. Out of all the applications, the prize for the Best User Interface/User Experience design went to "Travel Easy Kenya" which was a team of 5 members, and they were awarded a gift hamper by Mr. Mbugua Njihia. The second runners-up award went to "Mulika Mwizi" which was a team of 5 members and were awarded by Mr. Sam Gichuru and finally.... The winners of the first ever Mombasa hackathon 2013 went to... "My Tutor App" which was a team of 5 great minds and they were awarded by Mr. Collins Ondago. Great prizes included Microsoft products, External Hard Disk drives, Flashdisks, Headphones, T-shirts and guess what? M and ile phones too! I bet you would want to join us in the next hackathon?
All said and done, the event came to end with final feedback from judges to all the participants, words of wisdom and encouragement, a vote of thanks from Mr. Sam Gichuru from Nailab and closing remarks by JKUAT Mombasa and lastly the Mombasa Tech Community organizers who thanked everyone for their support in making the event a remarkable one indeed.
These were two days full of learning experience, fun and moments of excitement, it was an open space to share, learn, connect with mentors and network.
Finally, the day concluded with cocktails served by the Sunrise Resort Apartments and Spa Mombasa.
Check out Event Photos
Special gratitude goes to the entire Nailab team and especially Ms.Eunice Mutindi, Ms. Josephine Mwangi and Ms. Lynn Sellanga for their unconditional support and ensuring that everything was just right in place. Sincere thanks to our host JKUAT Mombasa for opening their arms wide and open for us. Also, many thanks to the Mombasa Tech Community members who volunteered to assist in the niity gritties, Mr. Andrew Mwangi, Mr. Bryan Opiyo, Mr. Magambo Gatobu, Mr. Khamis Suleiman, Mr. Harris Mwashalo, Ms. Jamila Mbarak and Ms. Zahra Jalalkhan.
Until the next hackathon...