On 04.11.2024, the hackathon "Small Components, Big Ideas: Hackathon for Tomorrow's Electronic Solutions" launched in the auditorium of Block 7 at the Technical University of Sofia, organized by the Faculty of Telecommunications in collaboration with the Italian association Paidea sas and the European global leader in electronic chip manufacturing - ST Microelectronics.
The hackathon is supported by a project reflecting the common European interest in microelectronics and communication technologies (IPCEI ME/CT), as part of STMicroelectronics' initiatives to share their technologies and innovations across various ecosystems and encourage activities related to microelectronics. The coordinator and scientific supervisor of the hackathon is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Galya Marinova from the Department of "Technologies and Management of Communication Systems" at the FT, while 5 representatives from Italy participate on behalf of the co-organizers. They specialize in organizing a series of STMicroelectronics hackathons, initiated after the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to the global chip crisis.
Following an application and selection process, 35 participants were chosen, including students from the final grades of TUES and students from the Faculties of Telecommunications, Electronic Engineering and Technologies, Industrial Technologies, Automation, French-language Electrical Engineering, Computer Systems and Technologies, Mathematics and Informatics. The participants were divided into 7 teams based on their initial knowledge, assessed through an online test. Representatives from STMicroelectronics provided each team with a basic development system featuring a Nucleo F401RE board and various sensor modules that can be connected to it: infrared obstacle and road marking identification sensor, vibration detector, gas, pressure, and temperature sensors, sound, tilt, rain, ultrasonic sensor, photoresistor, soil moisture sensor, miniature traffic light setups with LEDs, and servo motors. After a seminar where STMicroelectronics representatives presented the capabilities of the components, the teams were given tasks to design and implement innovative solutions for smart city applications using the provided equipment. A one-hour discussion on smart cities was also held, as one of the modern areas of innovation.
The hackathon was officially opened by Prof. Dr. Eng. Lidia Galbova - Vice-Rector for International Activities and Integration at TU-Sofia. The representative of ST Microelectronics from the Rome office, Nicolò Gerini, welcomed the participants and spoke about the company's concept and the hackathon initiative for students and schoolchildren. Eng. Mauro D'Angelo presented the rules of the hackathon.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Agata Manolova - Dean of the FT, and Prof. Dr. Eng. Petar Yakimov from the FETT and TUES, welcomed the participants and wished them success.
For 2 days, until 06.11.2024, the teams will work intensively on their innovative projects and finally, in a special session, they will present them to a jury, which includes not only Italian engineers but also Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Rostislav Rusev from the Department of TMCS at the Faculty of Technical Cybernetics. The jury will evaluate the technical value of the projects, with criteria including the number of integrated sensors and actuators in the engineering solution, as well as the quality of the presentation by which the team presents the solution. All participants in the hackathon will receive certificates, and the winners will receive special awards from the organizers.
