Industrial engineering and management students from Israel’s leading institutions developed advanced technological solutions in the first National Hackathon in this field, which was led by the School of Industrial Engineering and Management at Shenkar.

Leading companies in the Israeli and international economies participated in this unique event, 36 hours packed with thinking and doing, and presented the students with significant challenges they are facing: from managing multiple-participant projects, through banking mechanisms for credit allocation, to improving supply and production chain systems.

At the end of the intensive Hackathon the students presented the fruits of their labors before a team of experts and leading figures from academe and industry, which chose three outstanding projects that excelled in creativity and innovation, in technological, economic, and business feasibility, and in the level of development they achieved.

First place in the Hackathon was awarded to a team that developed a smart system for inputting and managing work hours in multiple-participant projects for Priority Software (the team: Michal Vazana and Rut Brauner from Ariel University, and Sapir Saldinger from Sami Shamoon College of Engineering);

Searching for the next big development | Photograph: Ahikam Ben Yosef

Second place was awarded to a project developed for hardware giant Intel for monitoring and characterizing important business events on Twitter (the team: Pavel Nowitzki, Adir Shaham, Amir Yavne, Matan Epstein, and Oron Kaiser from Tel Aviv University); 

Third place was awarded to a team that developed a system for tracking, documenting, and improving water monitoring for national water company Mekorot (the team: Tal Givati and Li-Or Efrati from Shenkar, and Matan Bruchim and Einat Korbashi from Sami Shamoon College of Engineering).

Awarding prizes to the winning teams in the first National Hackathon for industrial engineering and management students

During the Hackathon the students heard lectures from leading figures in Israel’s economy, including: Ms. Hana Rado, Vice Chairperson of McCann Israel, Chairperson of McCann Valley, and President of Supersonas Israel; Ms. Yael Shemesh, Deputy Head of the Software Development Department at the R&D and Engineering Division at RAFAEL; Mr. Noam Fine, General Manager of iam+ Israel; and Mr. Gadi Mikles, Head of Rich Content Platform at international retail giant eBay.

The original projects developed in the Hackathon gained high praise and accolades from the judges and visitors at the event, which included a digital vaccination card for travelers, and a smart banking system for credit allocation to customers. Cash prizes and certificates of merit will be awarded to the winning teams at the 20th Industrial Engineering and Management Conference which will be held in early June at Kfar Maccabiah Hotel, and will be attended by President of Shenkar Prof. Yuli Tamir, and Dean of the School of Industrial Engineering and Management Prof. Ehud Menipaz.

Inter-institutional multidisciplinary brainstorming | Photograph: Ahikam Ben Yosef

The unique Hackathon is the product of collaboration, the first of its kind, between the School of Industrial Engineering and Management at Shenkar, the Deans Forum, heads of Industrial Engineering and Management Departments, and the Society of Industrial and Management Engineers at the Association of Engineers. Thus, students from all over the country had an opportunity to work together and contend with burning issues from the “field” and apply engineering, business, and design thinking in real time.

Academic institutions that participated in the event include Tel Aviv University, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, ORT Braude Academic College of Engineering, Afeka College of Engineering, Ruppin Academic Center, and Ariel University.