On April 27th and 28th, 2019, BrainSTEM Alliance partnered with Youth Computing and the Wood Buffalo Regional Innovation Network to host the 2nd annual Community Code Day. This 2 day technology conference and hackathon invited community members from across Wood Buffalo to come together at Keyano College to learn about technology and it’s applications to the theme of Health and Wellness.

Speakers

Throughout the 2 days we had speakers and exhibits all along the theme of Health and Wellness.

Natali Levasseur and Candice Hamilton – Tech and Mental Health

Our first set of speakers spoke on the effect of technology on mental health. Natali Levasseur is a registered psychologist at Keyano College with 27 years’ experience in clinical and school psychology. Candice Hamilton is a Certified Canadian Counselor, an internationally certified Neuro-Linguistics Practitioner and a trained EMDR therapist. Together they shared how technology can be damaging to mental health but how there are also technology applications that can help with mental health. View the full video of their presentation HERE.

Sahr Saffa – AI and Creativity: Is Machine Learning an Additive to Creativity or the Silent Killer

Sahr Saffa is a serial entrepreneur and currently the VP of Canadian Operations for a San Francisco Bay Area machine learning firm, AutonomIQ. Sahr’s session discussed the many uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning and it’s impact on creativity. View the full video of his talk HERE.

Rachel Ivey – Technology and it’s Impact on my Career in Sport

Rachel Ivey is a Director of Northern Trailblazers basketball club and a Sports Management graduate. Rachel spoke about how she used digital media and social networking to take her sports company to the next level. View her full presentation HERE.

Simba Nyazika – Virtual Reality and Cognitive Health

Simba is the CEO and Founder of Lenica Research Group. His keynote presentation showcased some of innovative research at Lenica incorporating technology to increase cognitive health. See his speech HERE.

Jean-Pierre De Villiers – Medical Makers

Jean-Pierre is the founder of the Medical Makers YMM chapter and he presented on how we can use 3D modelling and 3D printing for medical education. He demonstrated some 3D prints at the event for attendees to see.

Workshops

The conference also included a number of workshops designed to teach both technical and non-technical skills.

D’Andre Wilson-Ihejirika – Pitch Presentation Tips

D’Andre is the founder and president of BrainSTEM Alliance. Her workshop spoke about some tips for pitches including how to focus in on the problem you are trying to solve and the target market you are solving the problem for.  See her presentation HERE.

Melanie Galea – How to Work Smarter not Harder

Melanie Galea is a leading real estate agent in Fort McMurray and the founder of Discover Fort McMurray. Her workshop gave practical tips on how to use technology so that you can work smarter with minimal effort. See here presentation HERE.

Dhvani Patel – Object Oriented Programming

Dhvani is one of the co-founders of Youth Computing and a Computer Science student at Waterloo University. Dhvani presented a hands-on coding working on object-oriented programming. See his workshop HERE.

Dhruv Patel – App Prototyping

Dhruv is one of the co-founders of Youth Computing and a Megatronics student at Waterloo University. Dhruv showed participants how to use wireframing tools to design prototypes for mobile apps. See his workshop HERE.

Said El-Mejdani – Intro to Virtual Reality

Said is a computer science teacher at Westwood Community High School and a nationally recognized education innovator. Said lead a workshop teaching participants the basics of virtual reality. Aim High Park sponsored the use of their VR stations to allow attendees to try out their VR on site.

Hackathon

Finally, one of the biggest aspects of the event was the hackathon competition. Using what they learned in the workshops and sessions, the participants had to create a technology solution on the theme of health and wellness.

There were 12 teams of varying ages that participated in the hackathon, and their ideas are listed below. See their pitches HERE and HERE.

1. Muhammad Ali Qureshi – Chronological timetable to let nurses know when to give patients medicine
2. Doyin Osuntogun and D’Andre Wilson-Ihejirika – RoundEd App to track all aspects of wellness (physical, intellectual, social, etc.)
3. Ansh, Rushi, Shayan – A medicbot that can send messages to a nurse depending on what the patient needs.
4. Tanishka, Trishia, Monisha – E-cigarettes website
5. Matri, Urvi, Heteshree – A daily schedule for your daily life, so you can stay healthy
6. Disen Kottage – Detection of Cancer Cells using Machine Learning
7. Saptarshi Bhattacherya – Turns pictures of ingredients to suggest potential recipes
8. Neel and Dhyan – Transit app for tourists and kids to locate healthy food destinations
9. Rofyda – Baby symptoms database
10. Sparsh Patel – Fitness tracker with schedule + google maps
11. Ekansh, Harshit, Ved, Vraj – Calorie Tracker
12. Shahmeer and Shahfraz – Dynamic Developers – Smart stick for seniors

There were many amazing solutions, but the winners were:

See the awards presentation HERE with a opening message from Mayor Don Scott. Thank you to all of our sponsors including Keyano College, Alberta Innovates, RMWB and FMPSD!

On top of the cash prizes, our winner and runner up (Satarshi and Disen) were able to be sponsored by Alberta Innovates to the 2019 Inventure$ conference in Calgary along with reps from BrainSTEM Alliance and Youth Computing!