Suzanne Lazaroo
10 December 2024: An Innovation Central Canberra (ICC) team won the first MasterTech hackathon last month at the Cisco Live conference in Melbourne, with their EcoSwaps solution for reducing plastic waste sweeping the top spot.
Created by Innovation Central Melbourne at La Trobe University and sponsored by the Coles Group, the five-day MasterTech hackathon was an exhilarating celebration of innovative thinking and technological prowess.
Five Innovation Central teams from different universities under the Cisco-led National Industry Innovation Network (NIIN) competed.
ICC represents the partnership between Cisco and the University and is part of the broader Cisco-led and Australia-wide NIIN, where Alliance Managers play a key role in fostering impactful partnerships and projects across various government departments, community and businesses.
A collaborative vehicle which cultivates partnerships between industries and academia, the NIIN aims to digitally transform industries and accelerate innovation for real world, large-scale impact.
”We are incredibly proud of the achievements of our Innovation Central team at the inaugural MasterTech hackathon,” said Professor Janine Deakin, Executive Dean of the University’s Faculty of Science and Technology.
“The National Industry Innovation Network (NIIN) provides an invaluable platform for our students and researchers to engage with cutting-edge technology and industry leaders, and to contribute to tackling some of the most pressing challenges of our time, like sustainability.
“We look forward to growing the partnership between the University of Canberra and Cisco, and ensuring our students are equipped to lead in an increasingly digital world!”
Reg Johnson, Director Education and Strategic Industries Cisco Australia and New Zealand, extended his congratulations to the ICC team on the win.
“Congratulations to the team for winning at the inaugural MasterTech program at Cisco Live,” he said.
“We extend our gratitude to Coles for their partnership and engagement. Cisco is committed to fostering university collaborations to boost innovation, accelerate technology adoption, and enhance the talent pipeline, addressing Australia's industry challenges. With a focus on digital skills and innovation, we believe that collaboration is key.
“MasterTech exemplifies the type of innovative programs that the NIIN executes across Australia, serving as a conduit for transferring knowledge and innovation from academia to industry. We’re excited to strengthen our strategic partnership with Coles following this success.”
For the hackathon, the teams battled it out to design experiences around sustainable stores of the future.
Coles Group General Manager of Technology Strategy, Transformation and Architecture Nick Walker said that it was incredible to see what the student groups came up with, especially considering the complexity of the challenge.
“The diversity of the ideas that we saw, as well as this really big thinking around automation and change was very impressive,” he said.
“I was also really impressed with how the students focused on solutions that were very feasible. It was clear how solutions could be implemented in a way that works for our customers and team members.”
EcoSwaps, ICC’s winning entry, was designed to provide consumers with real-time personalised guidance to help them make sustainable choices while shopping. It was conceptualised to easily integrate with the existing Coles app infrastructure; every time they made a sustainable choice, shoppers would be offered bonus points under the Flybuys loyalty program.
“The challenge was about designing a world you want to engage in, and bringing to life how that engagement works – and certainly addressing the problem of plastic pollution would go a long way towards a more sustainable future for us all,” said ICC intern Hasani Balapitiya, who took home the trophy along with her teammates Sabrina Khali and Jatin Vohra.
"Participating in the MasterTech competition and Cisco Live was an incredible experience. It was my first hackathon, and I was thrilled to work alongside such a talented and collaborative team.”
“The event not only allowed me to improve my technical skills but also significantly enhanced soft skills such as teamwork and effective communication, while expanding my professional network.
“I was also proud to share my journey as an intern at ICC. This internship has been a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world industry applications. Being part of ICC has offered me hands-on experience, collaboration with industry experts, and exposure to cutting-edge projects, making it an unparalleled environment to grow both professionally and personally.”
