After 54 hours of intense brainstorming, a team of RMIT University students and CSIRO scientists has emerged as the winner of the 2015 Unearthed Melbourne Hackathon.
The event saw teams from around Australia using IT skills, creative thinking and engineering prototyping to solve a real-world challenge in the mining and resources industry in a non-stop 54 hour competition.
Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio commended team ‘PPE of Things’(Processing Plant Equipment of Things) for devising a low-cost, hi-tech way of boosting personnel safety on mine sites.
The team employed off-the-shelf Bluetooth sensors to track whether mining site clothing and equipment was being worn and operated properly, with the alerts sent in real-time to smartphones if hazardous situations occurred.
The Unearthed Melbourne Hackathon is part of the International Mining and Resources Conference 2015 (IMARC 2015), which is being held in Melbourne this week.
More than 2500 mining delegates are expected to attend the three day event, which runs until 12 November at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
PPE of Things team members included RMIT students Prem Jayaraman, Jonathan Liono and Ali Yavari, and the CSIRO’s Philip Valencia, Andrew Hellicar, Karl Von Richter and Ahmad El Shoghri.
The Hackathon is organised by Resources Innovation through Information Technology (RIIT), an Australian not-for-profit company with aims to drive technology innovation to strengthen the local resource sector.
Victoria is the largest exporter of mining equipment, technology and services in Australia. There are around 1900 companies across the state employing about 21,000 people in fields such as engineering consulting, construction, information and communications technology, international education, financial, legal and professional services.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio
“The Unearthed Melbourne Hackathon is an innovative way to combine bright minds, leading technology and industry experience to come up with solutions to our real-world mining problems.”
“The Unearthed Melbourne Hackathon highlights the world-leading innovation of our mining equipment, technology and services sector, which is on show at IMARC this week.”
Quotes attributable to Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis
“Congratulations to PPE of Things on their success. This Government is committed to supporting innovation, and the technological developments coming out of Victoria’s world leading universities and research institutions.”
“Growing innovation in technologies and research is key to driving new products and services that will boost the state’s productivity and employment as well as the living standards for all Victorians.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020