Over four days, more than a hundred participants, in person and online, worked intensively to find sustainable solutions for three industry-driven challenges. The annual hackathon "JAMWEEK" is organized by the "Design Factory Shenkar" in Israel, and more and more members of the "Design Factory Global Network" (DFGN) join the hackathon each year. Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH) Creativity and Innovation center "LinkMenų fabrikas" joined this international hackathon for the first time in collaboration with the VILNIUS TECH Department of Environmental Protection and Water Engineering. About 20 fourth-year Environmental Protection Engineering students from VILNIUS TECH worked in international teams with students from other DFGN network universities.

At the centre of attention - challenges of Israeli business

The hackathon focused on challenges faced by Israeli businesses, and students used the "Double Diamond Design Thinking" methodology to solve three main challenges dictated by the industry. One of the challenges was presented by the company "Monday.com", which is a cloud-based platform allowing users to create their own software and project management programs. Together, they actively work in the field of social initiatives, using their available technologies to reduce extreme events. The challenge presented by this company was to create a tool capable of evaluating extreme climate phenomena such as heat waves or earthquakes.

Another hackathon challenge was presented by the "Dizengoff" shopping centre, which aims to become the most sustainable shopping centre in the world. Their challenge was to create a tool that increases their environmental awareness so that they and their customers could become more sustainable and set an example for others. The company "Vestolit", which produces polyvinyl chloride (PVC), presented a challenge related to their goal of becoming a technology knowledge centre for recycling plastic products and implementing circular economy principles. These challenges were solved by students from VILNIUS TECH, "Design Factory Shenkar" (Israel), "NYC Design Factory" (USA), "Design Factory Javeriana Bogota" (Colombia), and Euro-Mediterranean University (Morocco) in mixed groups.

The presented solutions

According to Dr Vaida Šerevičienė from the Department of Environmental Protection and Water Engineering at VILNIUS TECH, who served as a mentor at "JAMWEEK," the students were pleased that the hackathon was an international event that required them to work in multicultural groups and communicate in English.

"The students enjoyed solving real industry problems and communicating with company representatives. They also had the opportunity to see how students from different countries and studying different programs approached solutions differently. We are pleased that our students took up the challenge to participate in such an event, and we managed to attract a whole group," shares Dr Šerevičienė.

The hackathon teams, which included VILNIUS TECH Environmental Engineering students, proposed various solutions to the companies' problems. One of the proposals was a mobile application called "Vestolit+," which would help ensure the collection and recycling of PVC waste. Another solution proposed by the students for "Vestolit" was the "Vestobin" PVC waste collection and recycling system, which offers to supply the industry with PVC waste collection containers to ensure the recycling of raw materials.

The team that addressed the challenges of the "Dizengoff" shopping centre proposed creating a new package for compost produced in the centre. The "Dizengoff" shopping centre produces compost from food waste generated on-site, but selling such compost is challenging. The team proposed an environmentally friendly package design that would be inexpensive, easy to assemble, lightweight, and occupy very little storage space.

"JAMWEEK" results presentation at VILNIUS TECH "LinkMenų fabrikas" 

The "JAMWEEK" event at VILNIUS TECH, attended by students and faculty from the Department of Environmental Protection and Water Engineering, culminated in a presentation of the hackathon at VILNIUS TECH's "LinkMenų fabrikas," where students showcased their solutions. Finally, the students were awarded official hackathon certificates.

"We became coordinators of the "JAMWEEK" hackathon at VILNIUS TECH for the first time, so we are pleased that the international collaboration in the Design Factory Global Network gave us such an opportunity. The faculty members from the Department of Environmental Protection and Water Engineering supplemented this hackathon with their experience and knowledge and invited their students to join, which is an excellent example of collaboration between VILNIUS TECH's "LinkMenų fabrikas" and different faculties," said Greta Markūnaitė, the Head of Creativity Lab at VILNIUS TECH's "LinkMenų fabrikas."