News | Tuesday, 20th November 2012

'Hacker' student uses skills to create app

Another first for Manchester innovation

A COMPUTER Science undergraduate has become the first UK student to win an official prize for hacking!

Bilawal Hameed, a first year student at Manchester Metropolitan University won the under 21 prize at the Manchester Hackathon on Saturday.

'Hacking' in computer sub-culture means producing a quick, creative coding solution.

In what's believed to be the first event of its type, computer whizzes converged at the city’s MadLab to unearth data held by some of the city's main institutions to work up new ways to deliver services.

In just 24 hours, the sharp computer student from Levenshulme, Manchester conceived and developed a Bus Tracker application, which enables people to find their nearest bus stop and gives information about the next bus.

Student projects

Keith Miller, Head of Computing Mathematics and Digital Technology said: “The Hackathon is a really innovative event and something the University encouraged students to participate in. This is a great achievement by Bilawal in only his first year with us.”

The event was organised by Dave Carter and Councillor Nigel Murphy at Manchester City Council and featured in the Guardian and Manchester Evening News:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/nov/19/manchester-data-visualisation-hackathon
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1594017_road-safety-app-wins-young-designers-4600

Bilawal's hack is available live at http://bit.ly/mcrhack