How Kevin Chu teamed up with peers to improve student services
Hackathon hosted through Experience Ventures sparks innovation and new connections
For first-year computer programming student Kevin Chu, what began as an extracurricular opportunity became a real-world lesson in collaboration, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial thinking — skills he sees as essential to his future in tech.
“During my time at Humber, I want to be more involved in programs, extracurricular activities, and stuff like that to hopefully expand my knowledge and my network.”
The hackathon Chu attended challenged students to develop solutions that could improve how students — especially international students — navigate Humber Polytechnic’s campus and digital systems.
“You don’t really get a lot of chances to do something like this in your regular day-to-day life as a student,” he says. “Firsthand experience is a lot more important to me personally, especially for my field.”
The hackathon was hosted by IGNITE, the student union at Humber Polytechnic. It was organized by the Longo Centre for Entrepreneurship at Humber, in partnership with Experience Ventures — a program powered by the Hunter Hub of Entrepreneurial Thinking at the University of Calgary and funded by the Government of Canada. The program’s goal is to enable college and university students to practice entrepreneurial thinking alongside real-world innovators.
“As a student union, our resources are limited,” says Sieu Moi Ly, the Director of Student Success at IGNITE. “If we were to do this on our own, I think we would need a lot more resources and support. So having that three-way partnership made it a little bit easier and more accessible.”
More than 30 students participated in the hackathon and saw it through to the final presentations. Ly describes the event as a safe space for students to experiment and explore, and to push beyond their social boundaries to communicate and get to know each other.
For Chu, that rings true.
“I learned how to listen to other people and also communicate my thoughts and opinions based on what they’re saying,” Chu says. “Being communicative and being more empathetic to your peers and group members generally makes you a better leader and a better group member.”
The students had a chance to meet during an icebreaker event, where they could learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses, before assuming and delegating roles on the project team.
Then, it was time to start ideating.
“We came up with a student issue that revolved around advocacy,” Ly explains. “The problem statement we gave them was: ‘We want to be an advocacy-first organization. Teach us how to be that — and be relevant to you.’”
Students were asked to approach the problem as customers, and to develop a service or product that would be most impactful, relevant, and meaningful to them. The solution Chu’s team ultimately put forward was a resource integrated into the Humber website, designed to encourage student-to-student support.
“We came up with a questions and answers forum as part of Humber’s website where students could ask questions, and other students could answer and have it be verified,” Chu explains.
The team prioritized accessibility and ease of use and factored in the language barriers international students often contend with. Ly applauds the team’s effort and innovation.
“They helped us achieve a key milestone in improving our student services by developing a mechanism for a feedback system.”
Throughout the event, each team had access to an assigned mentor who helped them navigate the collaborative process.
“I was very grateful to work alongside our mentor, Kellina Powell,” says Chu. “There were other professionals and entrepreneurs there as well. They brought a lot of guidance and wisdom whenever we needed it.”
Ly describes the mentorship aspect as a test of the students’ adaptability.
“You might think your idea is brilliant — but then you talk to a mentor who’s well-versed in the industry, and they challenge you to adapt. So how do you pivot? How do you innovate?”
Impressively, the hackathon had between 200 and 300 applicants. “The demand was definitely there,” Ly notes. “Would we participate again? Absolutely. But I’d like to continue refining the model. We want to move toward a full hackathon competition where you’re there to compete for the prize money.”
Chu is enthusiastic about the benefits awaiting fellow students who apply and compete.
“I would recommend other students to do it. Because it’s not just an event for tech students. It’s also a great way to get involved in your school and meet new people,” he says. “It made me appreciate my field a lot more because I got the opportunity to work alongside other talented people and we got to work towards a shared goal.”