Matthew Wong, a third-year Biomedical Engineering (BME) undergraduate student, shares his experience on exchange at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and his success at the ETHGlobal Hackathon in Taipei. His winning project, FindMyPhotos, is a facial recognition app that helps users quickly locate themselves in untagged photo albums.
What inspired you to go on exchange, and what did you learn from the experience?
I chose to go on exchange to learn from Singapore’s world-renowned education and healthcare systems, as well as its growing blockchain scene. I wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone and gain fresh perspectives by being exposed to new cultures, ideas, and ways of thinking. All of this taught me to approach problems with a global perspective. Coming back to Waterloo, I bring with me a broader lens for tackling challenges in both course and hackathon projects.
Matthew Wong, a third-year BME student competed in a hackathon in Taipei while on exchange.
What motivated you to enter the hackathon? Had you done many of them before and how was this one different?
I wanted to do a hackathon and explore Taiwan. A friend from SUTD told me about a travel scholarship and encouraged me to attend, which made the trip possible. I’ve done many hackathons before, but this was the first where my goal was to solve a real problem with a new tech stack I’ve never used before!
What inspired you to develop a facial recognition app?
I got the idea for FindMyPhotos.app after searching through a Flickr photo album after a hackathon in Bangkok. A friend spent 40 minutes searching for photos of himself! With my app, you can find your photos from Flickr albums in seconds. It can be scaled, so event organizers can offer this service to attendees.
In developing your project, what skills did you use?
I leveraged design thinking, software engineering, and pitching skills—all of which I’ve continued to develop thanks to my coursework and co-op experiences. The breakthrough moment came when I switched to AWS Rekognition for the facial recognition functionality. The first tool I tried didn’t work, but with AWS Rekognition I was finally able to get a working prototype. The entire project depended on this!
Find My Photos uses AI facial recognition technology.
Users upload a photo of themselves to find their results.
What does winning the prizes mean to you?
I competed against 530 hackers to win three top prizes: Most Killer App Potential, Best Project, and Real World Anything, earning USD $7,500. Winning these prizes is a reflection of how much the project and the problem resonated with the judges. I went into the hackathon with the goal to build something practical and solve a real problem, so I’m glad it ultimately achieved that! Financially, it means I’ll be able to fund future hackathon trips and invest in more ambitious projects.
How has the experience on exchange and at the hackathon influenced your future goals?
My experience on exchange and at the hackathon continued to solidify my desire to work in fast-paced and early-stage startup environments. They gave me a global perspective of tackling problems and reminded me how much I love being around ambitious builders that take things from 0 to 1.