Larry A. Watts 
Earlier this year, startup LivNSense â„¢ refined its industrial furnace optimization technology for the chemicals, petrochemicals and metals industries by participating in the first-ever SAS Global Hackathon, where it won both categories global manufacturing and IoT.
“The SAS Global Hackathon helped us experiment and take our cognitive oven technology to the next level,†said LivNSense CEO Avnish kumar. “Data from industrial oven sensors feeds into our AI-powered virtual oven so manufacturers can optimize performance and reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint. The SAS Hackathon was a great environment to try out new ideas and spur innovation.
How to join the SAS Hackathon
Anyone interested in analytics, including SAS customers and technology partners, independent developers, students, and start-ups, can join Hackathon 2022. Hackathon teams can include people from one or more organizations , or a person wishing to join a group.
Register your team (from 2 to 10 people) or register as an individual through February 15, 2022.
Teams will need to provide a brief description of the real world challenge – a business or sustainability issue – they will face. Individuals will need to share their interests and skills more so that they can be better matched as a team. Once registration is confirmed, participants will receive emails with further instructions.
Teams will focus on one or more of the 10 industry categories:
- AgTech
- Banking
- Energy
- Healthcare and Life Sciences
- Assurance
- IoT
- Manufacturing
- Public sector
- Retail
- Telecom
All along March 2022, the teams will network and collaborate with each other and with SAS mentors and partners to improve their ideas and technologies. The finalists will be selected in April and put in contact with SAS experts for further development of the application. The winners will be announced at a SAS 2022 event.
“Good ideas can come from anyone, anywhere. When data enthusiasts come together from different regions, with different backgrounds and skill levels, amazing things can happen, â€said Einar Halvorsen, Global Hackathon Manager at SAS. “The SAS Hackathon is truly an environment where your curiosity leads to innovation.”
LivNSense was one of 100 teams from around the world at the 2021 Hackathon who worked to improve people’s lives, improve businesses, and promote a healthy planet. Other winning teams used technologies such as AI and machine learning, computer vision, and IoT to:
- Save the lives of first responders with smart traffic lights.
- Explore manure recycling nationwide to boost food production and improve the environment.
- Analyze patient movements via a smart shoe insole to create a risk score for loss of balance and fall.
- Help banks to better align their portfolios with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
To learn more about the SAS Global Hackathon 2021, check out the eBook, Data scientists use SAS® Viya® on Microsoft Azure to develop great innovations, which showcase the positive results of selected teams.
What is a hackathon?
During a hackathon, teams of participants collaborate and compete to find the best solutions to a business or humanitarian challenge using technology.
Unlike many hackathons where participants meet in person for a few days, the SAS Hackathon is completely digital and much more than a competition. Prior to the One-Month Hackathon, teams have access to a learning portal and an SAS mentor.
Through the SAS Hackathon, participants can explore entrepreneurial approaches, network with other innovators, and try out technologies like SAS Viya. And in the process, Hackathon teams can create potentially market-viable applications and products that SAS will help develop and commercialize.
