An interdisciplinary team of students from the University of Waterloo walked away with the top prize of $500 at the GOODHack24 challenge.
Waterloo Engineering bachelor students Milind Kumar, Humza Ahmed and Hossein Molavi teamed with Waterloo math student Amin Mojtahed to win top prize for their Planet Profit software.
The software program encourages residents to take part in opportunities that combine community building and climate action initiatives. By developing their own green initiatives through Planet Profit, residents can implement solutions based on local demands. The software also connects people to ways they can save money. The Planet Profit team plans to use the $500 they won in the hackathon to scale the software and grow their reach.
An honorary mention went to Waterloo Engineering bachelor students Ana Dimitrievska, Anaëlle Youbissi, Jordan Leis and Ahmed Qazi for their project HeatHive which allows individuals living in affected communities to access more affordable resources to create green spaces around their community.
The HeatHive software program helps residents access discounts based on their address, so they can purchase seeds, plants and gardening tools to build their own green spaces. With each purchase, users will also get access to resources related to their items, including instructions and tips that residents can follow to become more sustainable.
The hackathon was co-hosted by the City of Kitchener, Go Open Data (GOOD) and GreenHouse, a social incubator at United College. The participating seven teams’ solutions and climate action initiatives will be shared with community partners, municipal-level decision-makers, and subject-matter experts to support the mobilization of regional strategies.
Read Breaking barriers for local climate action with open-source data for the full story.