SA Team Places 2nd at 2021 Imagine Cup Junior Virtual AI Hackathon, Girls Edition

SA Team Places 2nd at 2021 Imagine Cup Junior Virtual AI Hackathon, Girls Edition

Team Cognition, a South African team of Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grade 12 students from different Curro schools around the country won second place at the 2021 Imagine Cup Junior Virtual AI Hackathon, Girls Edition.

The challenge, which is known as the “Olympics of Technology” is is a live international event where teams (of 2-5 individuals) compete by trying to solve real-world problems through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The event is sponsored by Microsoft, in partnership with UNESCO.

Imagine Cup Junior 2021, which was held in March, provided students aged 13 to 18 the opportunity to learn about technology and how it can be used to positively change the world.

The global challenge is focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), introducing students to AI and Microsoft’s AI for Good initiatives so they can come up with ideas to solve social, cultural and environmental issues. It’s also a great opportunity to encourage students to develop and practice 21st century skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity.

The girls were taken on a practical journey into the heart of AI, to help them develop widely applicable machine learning skills in the context of sustainability, biodiversity loss and climate change. Each team had to present their big idea to a group of ‘investors’ in the first round. A total of 22 teams competed and 11 were chosen to go through to round two of the hackathon.

Team Cognition was pipped by Team Clustering from Spain which won first place for its solution to preserve the Mediterranean Sea by predicting variations in sea temperatures and using satellite images to identify polluted areas in the Mediterranean. Team Cognition consisted of Tsakane Koko (pictured above), Hesme Cronje (Grade 12, Curro Heritage House), Humbulani Mudziwa (Grade 12, Curro Academy Soshanguve), Anamika Beethasi (Grade 11, Curro Waterfall) and Tahlia Bell (Grade 10, Curro Mossel Bay).

The South Africa team prepared a presentation with ideas to help trace and locate African Wild Dogs using AI.

Curros said in a statement that in the early stages of the hackathon, the learners were given a tour on how the challenge will work as well as shown online demos to work with in order to get a feel for the capabilities of AI. The next step was to take data and apply machine learning code to it. The end goal was for all the girls taking part in the challenge to design the outline of a web service that uses AI. Team Cognition then made use of AI to search social media posts containing any geotags or hashtags relating to African wild dogs or their known residents.

Curro Academy Pretoria phase head Charlotte Jooste said the Team Cognition presentation focussed on AI methods to pick up any indications in the wild dogs’ behaviour that could link to illness or other threats as well as interventions. “This way the animals receive little human intervention and therefore live a more “natural” life. The team’s presentation also covered ensuring that wild dogs be protected from geological disasters or processes like droughts, floods, etc. as well as human activities,” Jooste said.

She added that the challenge gave the team a whole new perspective of “new jobs” out there and careers they might look into in the future.

Microsoft lead for Digital Transformation in Education Mark East commented in a LinkedIn post that watching the girls fully commit to outline an AI-based solution to a sustainability problem really showcased how entrenched the current generation is in environmental concerns.

“The more they grasped the full capabilities of AI to create a sustainable future, the more focused they were on coming up with a viable solution. Today’s visionaries are determined to change the world for the better, and they’re excited to explore how they can use AI to do it,” said East.

East added that one of the greatest highlights of the hackathon came at the very end, when some of the girls took the time to share their thoughts on the experience. “Their emotions ranged from excitement, to gratitude, to genuine surprise at seeing so many women in the IT sector. Many of the girls expressed how excited they were to learn that AI will play such a vital role in the future, as they were interested in exploring career opportunities in this field. Those who had used the hackathon as a gateway into the amazing world of AI said that they were really glad they participated,” he said.