Two winners can be better than one, at least when it comes to the recent event at Northeastern University in Toronto.
Last month, Walmart Canada and Northeastern University collaborated on a hackathon, an event where people come together for a period of time to propose solutions to problems. During the event, 82 students in 19 teams spent two days developing a tool that helps Walmart Canada stores decide what to stock and sell within space constraints. Winners were then admitted to his four-week incubator program to hone and implement their ideas.
Walmart Canada was impressed with the students.
“Originally, they agreed to play one championship team,” said Montse Santusole, Northeastern Toronto’s director of strategic partnerships. “But they were so impressed that they took them on.”
And this was no ordinary hackathon.
First, students received data from Walmart Canada, allowing them to work on real problems rather than hypothetical problems.
“There was a technique for reasoning, students had to use AI to fill in missing data, and we talked about ways to visualize the data. The first step was to find patterns,” said Associate Professor Omar Badleruddin, associate director of the Graduate School of Engineering, said. Program in Northeast Toronto.
Second, the event allowed students to interact not only with Walmart data but also with several of its executives. After the event, each team had to make a five-minute pitch to Walmart Canada.
Finally, and perhaps most unique about the event, was the incubator program where students worked with Walmart Canada to hone and implement their ideas.
“The students had very complex problems, so the two-step experience allows them to experiment and expand their ideas into something more complete,” Badreldin said. . “It also gives students the opportunity to interact with Walmart Canada employees, data and more for an extended period of time.
“It’s a great networking opportunity, as they not only meet professionals, but also have the opportunity to showcase both their soft and technical skills to potential employers,” Badreldin continued.
Members of the winning team said they are excited to be working with Walmart Canada.
Student Ziyi Zhang said, “I think we’re not only excited about the win, but also excited about future opportunities to work with Walmart Canada, because Walmart Canada is a retail giant. ” he said. “And it’s always great to work with talented people from different backgrounds.”
Meanwhile, Walmart Canada said the hackathon is an opportunity for organizations to collaborate with bright, young minds to develop solutions that can better serve customers.
Cyrus Moulton is a reporter for Northeastern Global News.send him an email c.moulton@northeastern.edu. Follow him on X/Twitter @MoultonCyrus.