A group of three Niagara College students flexed their creative muscles, taking home second place and $2,000 for their ideas at the three-day Agritech Hackathon – a first for the Niagara region – from October 18 to 20.
Teams of high school students, post-secondary students, and professionals were challenged with core questions on irrigation, soil erosion, climate change, agricultural productivity, sustainability and tourism. Student teams formed around these challenge questions, and their ideas were then developed and championed in a business pitch format to find innovative and sustainable solutions to challenges within the agriculture and ecotourism sectors. The teams got their challenge on Friday night and delivered their pitches on Sunday afternoon.
The NC team included Emanuelle Atsain, Carey Satin, and Chris Dardarian who placed second for their agricultural labour demand planning platform.
“Events like this Hackathon can show the diverse career options in food and agriculture, and spur idea generation,” said Amy Proulx, professor and program coordinator of Culinary Innovation and Food Technology, who explains that there is great demand for skilled grads in the food and agriculture sectors. “Technology and productivity improvement is making these careers more tenable for young people.”
Proulx participated in the hackathon as a team mentor, speaker, and competition judge. NC’s John Levay, chief technology officer, also participated as a panel speaker.
Held at Beamsville Secondary School, the Agritech Hackathon was a partnership between The Town of Lincoln and Spark Lincoln, designed to not only help solve problems through the use of technology, but enable connection and conversation between rural and urban communities.
The Town of Lincoln, located in the heart of the Niagara Region, has the highest number of farms in all of Niagara, and synonymous for grape growing and wine. After the winners were announced, Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton, a champion for innovative practice in agrifood, addressed delegates about the significance of their work. In collaboration with Spark who support today’s entrepreneurial and creative workforce in Lincoln, the first Agritech Hackathon was a success.
