The Warren Centre
& Professor Ron Johnston
Humanitarian
Innovation
Hackathon
Mini Challenge
Team Video Challenge: Showcase Your Creativity
In your teams, you have one hour to create a 15-second video showing off your team members and your team name. The most creative and entertaining entry will be chosen as the winner.
Winners announced!
Congratulations to the 2024 Humanitarian Innovation Hackathon winners and runner-ups!
First Place
Team 25C - Sydgong Solutions
Project proposed a specially designed tap nozzle that reacts to contaminated water, allowing pacific island communities to quickly assess if their water is safe for drinking, and report problems when bad water is detected.
Casey Lockrey, University of Sydney
Harry Ledger, University of New South Wales
Nicholas Chiverini, University of Wollongong
Liam Harvey, University of Wollongong
Second Place
Team 10B – Kesh
Project proposed a bioacoustic sensor that can repel pests through precision agriculture.
Hannah Poon, University of Sydney
Kathy Kim, University of Sydney
Sophia Lee, University of Sydney
Ellie June, University of Sydney
Third Place
Team 20B – UC
Project proposed an App (AgriTrade Digital) which supports a broad agricultural trade for farmers allowing them to customise their crop choices across their communities to better suit marketplace needs, with the aim of maximising return on investment & labour.
Wiseson Kuang, University of Canterbury
Jessica Dixon, University of Canterbury
Kien Ngo, University of Canterbury
Vaughan Smart, University of Canterbury
Awards Ceremony
2024 Finalists
Team 25C – Sydgong Solutions
Casey Lockrey, Harry Ledger, Nicholas Chiverini, Liam Harvey
Team 11B – Humane Labs
Geon Lim, Jonathan Lee, Jesse Tong
Team 20 – UC
Wiseson Kuang, Jessica Dixon, Kien Ngo, Vaughan Smart
Team 14A – Floorbread Forge
Persephone Purvis, Yongtian Ma, Michael Day
Team 15b – Lunar Orbiter (Fish Doctor)
Lucy Roberts, Blake Lawton, Enling Liao,
Team 41C – Sunbros
Samuel Price, Ben Yee, Ryan Murray, Honoka Kobayashi
Team 47A – JED
Eric Phan, Danujen Nagarajan, Mingsim Chong, Kuah Xuan Li
Team 13B – Slash
Kevin Zou, Jeremy Stephens, Alqudus Lawal, Rhett Zhang
Team 10B – Kesh
Hannah Poon, Kathy Kim, Sophia Lee, Ellie June
Team 61C – We’re on Island Time
Sean Cosijn, Marissa Chow, Malisha Munidasa, Daniel Bonatti
Team 38A – Bratz
Hannabeth Marchant, Saniya Mukhra, Lucia Pilgrim, Simone Kalathil
Watch all Hackathon Finalists
This year our judges have had a really tough job choosing the top 11 contenders who will move on to the final round. These teams have shown exceptional creativity and dedication.
Program
Our Hackathon is a weekend long hybrid program with industry leading speakers, team bonding, facilitated mentoring, and exciting diversions that mix up the digital and face to face competition. Our Hackathon will fire up your creativity.
Participants are asked to identify practical solutions for real and current problems from an existing international humanitarian response context.
Since our establishment in 2019, The Humanitarian Innovation Hackathon has seen hundreds of students address significant topics including climate change-induced population displacement, educating for the future, aiding island communities and the provision of clean water.
Hackathon Weekend
July 2025
Hackathon Awards Ceremony
19 August 2025
Team Prizes
• $5,000 – 1st Prize
• $3,000 – 2nd Prize
• $1,000 – 3rd Prize
Note – All prizes are for the team, not each participant
Team Formation and Confirmation of Attendance
Student Participation Categories
This year, we’re forming all teams in the weeks leading up to the event.
There are 3 categories of student participating in the Hackathon:
• Pre-formed Team Captains
• Pre-formed Team Members
• Individual Students (i.e, no team yet)
To streamline the event, we ask all applicants to confirm their attendance, either as part of a pre-formed team or individually (onsite or online). This ensures readiness on Slack, our event platform, and smooth team organization before the Hackathon begins. Organized teams can also preview weekend challenges in advance.
Register your team or confirm your attendance before July 11th
Team Captains
If you are a Team Captain, use the form below to nominate your group of students for the Hackathon as a pre-formed team.
Ensure all nominated teammates have registered as Participants
Your Team Members need to provide you with the email address they signed up to the Hackathon with (it’s not always their uni email address, so make sure they are sure).
Individual Students
If you are an individual student, we’d like you to confirm your attendance July 19-21 by using the form below. This allows us to place you into a suitable team of similar students who will either be attending in-person at Sydney Uni, or will collaborate online.
2024 Hackathon Challenges
Utilising digital technologies to help achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
Digital technologies, from mobile phones to artificial intelligence (AI) innovations, have had a transformative impact on our communities, societies, and economies in recent decades. Digital technologies have resulted in measured positive outcomes by catalysing the achievement of nearly 70% of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the international development space.
The following three challenge statements are designed to facilitate your team’s ideas for digital technology applications to specific SDGs.
Addressing the transportation data gaps in order to design solutions in developing nations
To develop innovative digital technologies to increase efficiency of small-scale food producers
Improving drinking water quality reporting to prevent water-borne disease outbreaks
Your Complete Guide
Timing, Venue Navigation, Travel, and Food Choices
As you prepare for this exciting event, we’ve compiled essential information to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience. In this guide, you’ll find details on event timing, tips for getting to the venue, travel options to campus, and a variety of food choices available during the hackathon.
Rules, Entry and Eligibility
• National and international university students domiciled in Australia or New Zealand/The Pacific Islands and studying at a university.
• Entries are limited to undergraduate students.
• Entrants will be required to provide evidence of their eligibility under these rules as a part of their application for entry. Example of evidence is a university ID card.
• An individual may only participate in a single team. She/he cannot work across multiple teams.
• Students must register as individuals. However, after registration, students can form their own teams of 3-4 students.
Meet our 2024 Judges
Principal Safeguards Specialist, Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Industry Professor, University of Technology Sydney
Co-founder, ServiceGen
CEO, Hibbard Consulting Pty Ltd
Chair, Rux Energy
Roads & Highways Manager, South East Asia & Pacific, SMEC
Senior Director, Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality, The Asia Foundation
Research Principal, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney
2024 Hackathon Information Webinar
Find out everything you need to know for the 2024 Humanitarian Innovation Hackathon in this webinar.
Wondering how you can connect with us?
Join Us Online or In Person
The 2024 Hackathon is a hybrid event. There will be 1 in-real-life location that all participants can participate from. They also have the option of participating online, utilizing the live-stream on the website and Slack.
The location is: University of Sydney – Sydney Knowledge Hub
4pm – Opening Ceremony Commencement
4:30pm – Mini Challenge: Make a Team Promo
5:30pm – Hackathon Challenges Announcement
7pm – Make a Team Promo Winner Announcement
9am – Official Kickoff
9:10am – Mini Moment: How to make a video
5pm – Closing Saturday
9am – Official Kickoff
12pm – Submissions Due
12:15pm – Dj Beth Yen
1:30pm – Welcome to the Judges
3pm – Finalists Announced & Closing Ceremony
Wish you could participate, but your undergrad days are behind you?
Join our team as a Hackathon Mentor and be at the forefront of change in humanitarian innovation.
You will:
• Meet new and likeminded people in the industry.
• See what’s innovating a whole new generation.
• Do something meaningful with your weekend.
• Have something cool to put on your LinkedIn profile for once.
you?
Become a 2024 Humanitarian Innovation Hackathon Mentor
Hackathon Weekend
We set up a Hack Live studio in Sydney where the Hackathon is broadcasted LIVE across the country
& Social Posts
social media!
#HumanitarianInnovationHackathon #hack2024 #usyd
Calling all Australian and Pacific Island Undergraduate University Students. Do you want to help change the world? Find out how you can participate in the 2024
#HumanitarianInnovationAwards, including the #Humanitarian #Innovation #Hackathon this July!
#HumanitarianInnovationHackathon #hack2024 #usyd – For more information – bit.ly/hack-live
SAVE THE DATE The #HumanitarianInnovationHackathon is happening across the country this July. bit.ly/hack-live for more information #HumanitarianInnovationHackathon #hack2024 #usyd
The #HumanitarianInnovationHackathon is a weekend-long event designed for all Australian and Pacific Island university students to work collaboratively, in cross-discipline teams, to create technology-driven solutions for the most pressing #humanitarian challenges.
Participants are asked to identify practical solutions for real and current problems, from a current international humanitarian response context. The HIA Hackathon runs from 19-22 July 2024.
bit.ly/hack-live for more information
#HumanitarianInnovationHackathon #hack2024 #usyd
Hackathon Past Winners
Hackathon Innovation Winner (Medal and $5,000)
- Casey Lockrey (University of Sydney)
- Harrison Ledger (University of New South Wales)
- Nicholas Chiaverini (University of Wollongong)
- Liam Harvey (University of Wollongong)
Hackathon Innovation Runner Up Prize ($3,000)
- Ellie June (University of Sydney)
- Hannah Poon (University of Sydney)
- Sophia Lee (University of Sydney)
- Kathy Kim (University of Sydney)
Hackathon Innovation 3rd Prize ($1,000)
- Wiseson Kuang (University of Canterbury)
- Vaughan Smart (University of Canterbury)
- Kien Ngo (University of Canterbury)
- Jessica Dixon (University of Canterbury)
First prize: RedR Ron Johnston Rapid Response Prize (Medal and $5,000)
- Adam Slimming (University of Adelaide)
- Alex Hofman (Monash University)
- Gemma Biezen (Monash University)
- Sam Hillcoat (Monash University)
Hackathon Innovation Runner Up Prize (Medal and $3,000)
- Elvera Abdel-Messih (University of Technology Sydney)
- Ji Han Qin (The University of Sydney)
Hackathon Innovation 3rd Prize ($1,000)
- Angus Henderson (The University of Sydney)
- Wesley Henderson (University of Technology Sydney)
- Franco Yemma (The University of Sydney)
Solarobotix Digital Innovation Prize ($1,000)
“Team 13B Pacific Green Machine”
- Arushanan Prapakaran (University of New South Wales)
- Connor Sinclair (The University of Sydney)
- Zhiyu Cheng (The University of Sydney)
- Ritvik Sharma (The University of Sydney)
First Prize: RedR Ron Johnston Rapid Response Prize (Prize: Medal and $5,000)
- Henry Howard (University of Sydney)
- Vicky-Rae Reed (Western Sydney University)
- Hogun Lim (University of Queensland)
- Nadia Akbar (Monash University)
Vonwiller Humanitarian Innovation Runner Up Prize
- Alex Hofman (Monash University)
- Alex Qin (Australian National University)
- Nyamjargal Namsraijav (University of Adelaide)
- Shute Zhang (University of Sydney)
Laing O’Rourke for Best Presentation (Prize: $1,000)
First Prize: RedR Ron Johnston Rapid Response Prize (Prize: Medal and $5,000)
- Edith Lume (University of Wollongong)
- Mansour Adie (University of Sydney)
- Thomas Sau (MacquarieUniversity)
- Ivy He (University of Sydney)
Vonwiller Humanitarian Innovation Runner Up Prize
- Emily Sacks (University of Sydney)
- Gayathri Aranhiyullathil Pradeep (University of New South Wales)
- Rebecca Kung (University of Sydney)
- Akrita Singh (Macquarie University)
- Aishwarya Kathikeuan (Macquarie University)
Engineers Australia People’s Choice Award
- Emily Sacks (University of Sydney)
- Gayathri Aranhiyullathil Pradeep (University of New South Wales)
- Rebecca Kung (University of Sydney)
- Akrita Singh (Macquarie University)
- Aishwarya Kathikeuan (Macquarie University)
First Prize: RedR Ron Johnston Rapid Response Prize (Prize: Medal and $5,000)
- Alex Hofmann (Monash University)
- Allan Soo (University of Technology Sydney)
- Ben Hofmann (Australian National University)
- Emily Unewisse (University of Adelaide)
- James Hurst (Australian National University)
Pacific Telecommunications Council / Beyond Essential Humanitarian Internship Appointent
- Katia Moors (University of Sydney)
- Thomas Sau (Macquarie University
Pacific Telecommunications Council First Prize for Best Humanitarian Digital Innovation
- Alida Fois from (University of Melbourne)
- Celina Dhobbie (Monash University)
- Charvi Mamidi (University of Sydney)
- Portia Sihvola (Queensland University of Technology)
Pacific Telecommunications Council Second Prize for Best Humanitarian Digital Innovation
- Avanish Shrestha (University of Sydney)
- Isabella Notarpietro (University of New South Wales)
- Rafe Skidmore (University of Sydney)
- Meg Phillips (University of Tasmania)
- Syed Emaad Rizwan (Macquarie University)
First Prize: RedR Ron Johnston Rapid Response Prize (Prize: Medal and $5,000)
- Cameron Choi (University of Sydney)
- Fransiska Bekti (University of Sydney)
- Kevin Miao (University of Sydney)
- Mark Cavanna (University of Sydney)
- Terrence Darma (University of Sydney)
- Aisha Warsame (Deakin University)
- Brittany Gardner (University of Sydney)
- Harshita Jyoti (Australian National University)
- Madeline Liddle (Australian National University)
- Seo Woo Bae (University of Sydney)
- Adele van der Winden (Queensland University of Technology)
- Liam McAllister (Queensland University of Technology)
- Riley de Jong (Queensland University of Technology)
- Tasfia Quader (Macquarie University)
- Thomas Larkin (Australian National University)
Laing O’Rourke best presentation: “Rafts & Rails”
- Boran Wang (University of Sydney)
- Jasper Rasmussen (University of Sydney)
- Joseph Malicdem (Macquarie University)
- Qiting Huang (University of Sydney)
- Victor Zhuang (University of Sydney)
Humanitarian Innovation Awards Sponsors
We recognise and pay respect to the Elders and communities – past, present, and emerging – of the lands that the University of Sydney’s campuses stand on. For thousands of years they have shared and exchanged knowledges across innumerable generations for the benefit of all.