Columban College, Inc. team representatives from College of Computer Studies (CCS) Bachelor of Science in Computer Science 4th year (BSCS-4), DAILEKTO and Calbi, joins the annual AppCon competition held by OTis Inc., which centers on addressing social issues in the Philippines through the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Internet of Things (IoT) systems integrated into mobile or web-based platforms. Both representative teams were mentored by Mrs. Analiza Berania. The competition consists of 3 phases: System Development, Judging, where finalists were determined in its initial stage, and Pitching, where the selected teams are provided the chance to present their projects. Along with the “Grand Winner” award, the competition offers several special awards: “Excellence Award”, “Best Product”, “Best Technology”, and “Most Creative”. DAILEKTO and Calbi were both in the qualifier round, but only the latter team advanced in the Top 20 Finalists.
The DAILEKTO team, consisting of Shigeru Houshi, Dou Wendell Quizon, Joshua Buenaventura, and Arisa Ishikawa, developed a system that aims to preserve the Sambal dialect, particularly Sambal Tina with only 70,000 speakers (as of 2022) in the Philippines, through an educational translation mobile application using Artificial Intelligence.
“Nakakakaba pero exciting yung naging experience namin sa AppCon. Nung una, nakakakaba kasi maraming mga participants na galing sa ibat-ibang colleges at universities. Pero every week na naguupdate kami sa form tungkol sa progress namin, nakakaexcite kasi paunti-unting tumataas yung progress na nairereport namin meaning dumarami rin yung natatapos namin sa application na ginagawa namin. Ang masasabi ko naman sa mga natirang representative team ng CCS ay good luck, kahit alam kong kayang-kaya naman nila dahil grabe yung effort nila dun sa project.” Quizon answered when asked on his overall experience and thoughts in participating in AppCon 2024.
Houshi added, “The overall experience is engaging and motivating. We were pushed to come up with unique ideas to help the community. It gave us a great platform to compete and showcase our ideas. I want to congratulate the representative teams from CCS because I know how hard they worked to fulfill their ideas and to not just compete but also contribute to the society.”
The Calbi team, consisting of Maria Zorene Ramos, Brian Haw, Mark Angelo Santonil, and Aldhen Keith Miguel Padilla, developed a combined AI and IoT web-based system, LUKA, that quickly identifies natural disasters and accidents in real-time using CCTV, Internet of Things sensors and infrared camera, and computer vision using Convolutional Neural Network.
“Leading this team [Calbi] has been so difficult but eventually worth it. There was never an easy road and nothing, along the process, was smooth sailing. However, each of us has contributed an extensive amount of time, effort, and other sacrifices we have made, making our project [LUKA] what it is today. I am thankful to each member of our team for putting a lot of dedication and devotion to LUKA. Looking back, we really put a lot of love and a part of our soul in this project. I really couldn’t have asked for a better team.” Ramos commented regarding her thoughts in her experience in the competition.
Ramos added that this competition offered growth for all the CCS students that participated. “I firmly believe that this competition has motivated something in us, but what I liked most in our batch [BSCS-4] is our camaraderie and support with both of our groups because ultimately, we’re both showcasing what the BSCS-4 are capable of, and we’re consistently set on doing the most quality work we can do.”
Haw also stated, “It was a long process, therefore we gained so much experience and acquired various skills while participating in this event. It comes as no surprise that this competition provided an opportunity to expand our knowledge and improve our hands-on skills in system development.”
