Last weekend’s 11th annual Philly Codefest (April 20 and 21), presented by Drexel University’s College of Computing & Informatics (CCI), was the largest yet. Attended by more than 400 students and professionals from all backgrounds, the software and hardware hackathon received a record 66 project submissions.
This year’s theme, "Leveraging AI for the Common Good," focused exclusively on developing novel hardware and software solutions to better everyday life. Participants developed AI-powered apps and tools to improve outcomes across a wide span of focus areas, including healthcare, education, environment, community safety and social justice.
Teams formed and collaborated on software and hardware hacks in CCI’s space at 3675 Market Street on April 20, and finally presented their projects to judges in the University City Science Center’s Quorum on April 21. The event also featured workshops hosted by 2024 sponsors Chubb and AWS.
Other 2024 sponsors included: Comcast, Apollo, SAP, Lutron, La Bella Ro, Wawa, and Monster Energy.
View photos of the event on Drexel CCI's Facebook page.
A panel of judges – comprised of Drexel faculty and professional staff, industry and tech community leaders – selected the following projects as winners of Philly Codefest 2024 (demos/descriptions are linked within project names):
Philly Codefest - Advanced Track Winners
First Place
LungLens TB
Members: Satvik Tripathi, Isamu Isozaki, Manil Shrestha, Dubem Okoye (team photo above)
What it is: Empowering Tuberculosis detection in low- and middle-income countries with AI-driven chest X-ray analyses.
Second Place
Drexel Scheduler
Members: Sylvie Daines, Celine Pham, Justyn Rosinski, Ilsa Tran, Sid Tuladhar
What it is: An AI-powered tool to help students and academic advisors find current classes at Drexel University.
Third Place
Touch Grass
Members: Vishnu Menon, Naron Chen, Ramsha Perwez, Chaitanya Shashi Kumar, Siwu Li, Eric Riese
What it is: A cross-platform app that leverages AI for social good to help facilitate connections between people at events.
Philly Codefest - Beginner Track Winners
First Place
ASHTRA
Members: Aditi Jindal, Rahul Bolineni
What it is: An AI model that helps to analyze research papers and start a two-person podcast where the model acts as a human to discuss about the summary of the project.
Second Place
Renewify
Members: Sean O'Connor, Madeline Burger, Emma Romero, Shravya Bingi
What it is: An AI tool that helps users quickly find and replace everyday products with eco-friendly options that benefit both the planet and your health.
Third Place
X-Fire
Members: Timothy Khumpan, Bryan Li, Phuykong Meng
What it is: Improves outdated fire/Smoke detectors utilizing Xfinity Home Application using machine learning.
Comcast Prize Winners
Project that Leverages Comcast Products and Services for an Aging Population:
X-Fire
Members: Timothy Khumpan, Bryan Li, Phuykong Meng
What it is: Improves outdated fire/Smoke detectors utilizing Xfinity Home Application using machine learning.
Project that Uses AI for Comcast Products:
Comcast Inquirer
Members: Sai Rangineeni, Pranav Ramesh
What it is: A supercharged chat assistant to help with the sales and marketing of Comcast products.
Chubb Prize Winners
(Projects that make insurance services equally available and accessible to all)
Disaster Risk Analytics Platform
Members: Subhrato Som, Imon Bera, Abhishek Baj
What it is: This tool leverages advanced statistical analysis and deep learning technologies to predict potential disasters and their financial impacts in various U.S. states, providing firms and also customers with the insights needed to make informed, resilient investment decisions.
DEI Prize Winners
(Projects that represent principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or belonging)
Soter SOS
Members: Khanh Ha Nguyen and Saniya Mukhambetkaliyeva
What it is: an AI personal safety that can help you get help, even in the most dangerous situations.