[APU] APQueue wins the 30-Hour No-Code Hackathon

APQueue creators – Tan Wei Siang (from 3^rd left), Jordan Sahabudin, Goi Yi Shen, Jackson Tai, and Gan Wei Jun of the Techify team posed with their mentors (from left) Mr Victor Khoo Shien Yang and Mr Amad Arshad.

An all-in-one solution that can help clients in eliminating long queues and high average waiting times

Queuing is probably the best option for ensuring fairness and speeding up the process, However, waiting in a long queue can be frustrating and time-consuming. So, how do we manage long queues wisely? APQueue, an app created by five Software Engineering students at Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) to plan and organise long queues, could be the answer.

This an all-in-one solution that can help clients in eliminating long queues and high average wait times at the cafeteria, parking bay, purchasing card top-up kiosks, appointments, room booking, clinic visits, psychology services and et cetera.

Tan Wei Siang, Jordan Sahabudin, Goi Yi Shen, Gan Wei Jun, and Jackson Tai of team Techify won first place for their invention APQueue in the 30-Hour No-Code Hackathon organised by APU, Awantec Systems Sdn. Bhd. (formerly known as Prestariang Systems Sdn. Bhd.), and Google Malaysia. The prize-giving ceremony was held at Google Malaysia on 16 February 2023.

The hackathon drew 166 participants (36 teams) from various Schools at APU who came together to create software applications or other digital projects using no-code tools – software platforms that allow users to build applications or websites without writing any code, drag-and-drop interfaces, pre-built templates, and visual workflows to quickly and easily create complex applications.

During the hackathon, participants worked in teams to complete their projects in 30 hours. The event includes workshops, mentoring sessions, and networking opportunities to help participants develop their skills and connect with other like-minded individuals.

At the end of the 30 hours, each team presented their project to a panel of judges formed by Mr Raja Azmi Adam (Country Director Google for Education - Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei), Mr Eric Ngai (CTO of Awantec Systems Sdn. Bhd.), Mr Ali Reza Azmi (Head of Technology Learning Awantec Systems Sdn. Bhd.), Prof Dr Vinesh Thiruchelvam (APU Chief Innovation & Enterprise Officer) and Dr Julia Juremi (APU Head of the Forensic and Cyber Security Research Centre) who evaluate it based on criteria such as creativity, functionality, and user experience.

Team Techify learned some lessons from this hackathon including teamwork, motivating each other’s, time management, and pitching in concise and easy understanding. Before working on the APQueue, they conducted questionnaire surveys, several case studies, observations, and interviews with the stakeholders involved to understand the existing problems. They then discussed their solutions and validated their ideas, which were accepted by everyone.

“Winning this hackathon is a bonus for us because it allows us to meet with Google’s Raja Azmi Adam and also a golden opportunity to meet and share our idea with APU CEO, Datuk Parmjit Singh, who expressed full support for the idea.

“APU has exposed us to the industry world, internship, as well as collaboration with top companies for professional courses and workshops, for example, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and many more.

“We want to continue APQueue and begin implementation to benefit everyone, and we will also continue to participate in many more competitions as we want to inspire other students,” said Tan Wei Siang, Techify’s team leader.

Team Lifehackers finished second, with team IDK coming in third under the mentor of Ts. Jerry Chong Chean Fuh and Mr Lee Kim Keong. The top three winners get to visit the Google Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur and a cash prize of RM2,000 (Techify), RM1,000 (Lifehackers), and RM500 (IDK) respectively.