NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) announced that Health Hero Match, a website that connects medical workers with hospitals currently facing staffing shortages, has won first place at the 2020 Annual NYUAD International Hackathon for Social Good in the Arab World, which was held online for the first time, with more than 170 programmers joining the event virtually from around the world.
Participants were tasked with creating applications focused on the COVID-19 pandemic that addressed issues in diverse fields impacted by the virus such as health, education, film, music, business, and science. During the three-day hackathon, students were supported by over 35 mentors, and in the final session, they presented their innovative solutions to a panel of nearly 30 distinguished judges, including NYUAD Vice Chancellor Mariët Westermann.
Health Hero Match (H2M) is a two-sided marketplace website that enables medical workers to connect with hospitals with staffing shortages, by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide resources that facilitate a seamless transition to becoming a front-line worker during the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, a two-sided marketplace business model facilitates direct interaction between suppliers and customers, creating value through an intermediary platform. H2M operates on a similar model and helps hospitals to reduce the load on their existing medical workers by providing resources to facilitate easy relocation.
In addition, the website is able to proactively inform hospitals when they will need more staff before they need them by detecting future ‘peaks’ in COVID-19 cases in different cities, and alerting and hospital administrators when a ‘peak’ is detected and will take place.
H2M was developed by NYU Abu Dhabi student Máté Hekfusz, NYU student Monica Chang, Applied Science University in Jordan student Mahmoud Abdelhadi, Middlesex University Dubai student Danish Nihal, Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Jordan student Amr Darawsheh, University of Pennsylvania in USA student Alexa Spagnola, and United Arab Emirates University student Shamma Mohammed Alghfeli. The team was mentored by Assistant Professor, Applied Science Private University in Jordan Yousra Odeh, and Partner, Engineering, cLabs in Germany Martin Volpe.
NYU Abu Dhabi student Máté Hekfusz, said: “This online hackathon turned out to be an amazing experience. Communication, teamwork, great ideas, good laughs – it was all there. Our team H2M came together like nothing else and we felt like we were creating something significant all the way through. I’m really happy to have been a part of it.”
Organizer, Founder and Chair for the Annual NYUAD International Hackathon, Clinical Professor of Computer Science at NYU New York, and Affiliated Faculty at NYUAD Sana Odeh said: “The ninth Annual NYUAD International Hackathon for social good in the Arab world was hosted online for the first time and it was a big success and exceeded our expectations on many levels. It’s impressive to see all of the teams succeed in building innovative applications in such a short time while only working online. All of the winning applications will significantly impact the fight against COVID-19 both within and beyond the Arab world.”
Odeh added: “This Hackathon has shown the power of Computer Science as a problem-solving and interdisciplinary field with impact on many fields. It also demonstrates the strong impact of what diverse people can create when they come together to build innovative solutions for the social good and tackle challenges facing all of us around.”
Supported by MIT Hacking Medicine and Outlier Fund, the event seeks to promote innovation in computer science, tech startups, and the development of innovative technology for social good. It also provides an opportunity for students to experience the full cycle of creating a tech startup: sharing, generating, and pitching ideas; learning new platforms and programming languages; designing and developing mobile and web applications; and working within a team.
The ninth edition of the programming marathon was attended by students from Algeria, Argentina, Canada, China, Morocco, Palestine, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, US, France, Ghana, Jordan, Lebanon, as well as the UAE.
For further information on the NYUAD International Hackathon for social good in the Arab World, visit the website.
