Analytics for Food Safety Hackathon: A huge success

Middlesex Insights Lab (as part of CIHx) successfully wrapped up a month-long analytics hackathon on Food Safety and Sustainability. The competition saw a huge response, with over 170 teams competing around the world. The winning teams were entitled to a cash prize of AED 2,500 and an internship opportunity in food safety analytics. The teams were a mix of students, professionals, and freelancers from 21 countries. All the stages of this hackathon were entirely online, and it was the first hackathon in the middle east that targeted exclusively on food safety.

Amhad Zia’s team from Group 42 emerged as the overall winners, and Tejas Viswanathan’s team from Middlesex University Dubai (Business Analytics) was declared the runner-up. The closing ceremony of this hackathon had a special session from Mr Anup Namboodhiri, who is the Insights Lead at Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority. He highlighted the importance of Data Analytics in solving problems related to UN Sustainability Goals. The winning teams were announced by Dr Cedwyn Fernandes and Dr Fehmida Hussain. The judging panel included the team from RUBICS and Insights Lab faculty team from Middlesex University Dubai – Dr Krishnadas Nanath, Dr Supriya Kaitheri, Dr Sreejith Balasubramanian and Atif Ahmed.

All the participants were given real-world data on food safety by the data partner of this event- RUBICS Smart Solution headed by Mr Mohannad Salam. Teams had to use a mix of analytical methods to come up with the best insights on sustainability and food safety. The cash prizes were sponsored by the Middlesex Insights Lab, Beinex, and RUBICS. Putting the entire show together would not have been possible without the unerring support of the Insights Lab student and faculty team, Dr Cedwyn Fernandes and Dr Fehmida Hussain. Middlesex marketing team played a huge role in making the first global virtual hackathon from Middlesex University Dubai a great success. The hackathon idea was proposed by Dr Krishnadas Nanath who is the head of the Middlesex Insights Lab and Associate Professor at Middlesex University Dubai.