Focusing on Software & Design: Materialise Malaysia Holds Second Hackathon This Year

Hackathons have become increasingly popular, and so much so that Materialise Malaysia decided to host the second one of the year, along with other events—especially those focusing on 3D printing.

The latest event, held on November 30th, marks the third hackathon altogether for Materialise Malaysia. As is customary, participants were invited to meet specific challenges—two in this case—and complete them with a limited time frame.

With the motivation of awesome prizes, the teams working on the software angle were also supplied with devices such as 3D scanners and more, allowing them greater opportunity to innovate in making a product that would be compatible with both i.materialise API or Materialise 3D Print Cloud API. For those endeavoring toward the design challenge, they were also provided with 3-matic STL software. During the challenge they had to answer three questions to demonstrate skill, spanning problem solving, modeling, and fabrication. And while the difficulty level may have been high, the participants also had the chance to attend tutorials ahead of time.

The teams getting to work.

The event began with a speech by Wim Michiels, Managing Director of Materialise Malaysia, who spoke to the participants about the company and their contributions to the 3D printing industry. As the Hackathon moved forward, the 66 participants, made up of both students and professionals, worked on their projects for 24 hours. The two winners were from the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus team (design) and the University of Malaya team (software).

The Design challenge winners created a 3D design for a lampshade that was, like so many other amazing innovations today, prompted by nature. The Software challenge winners made good use of the 3D scanner at their disposal and created a system to estimate how much it would cost to 3D print an item. They used the scanner and then segued into the use of i.materialise for analyzing the data with the augmented reality app.

“The event was in a pretty dynamic and modern environment. The mentorship is significantly bolder than in similar events I’ve joined, which makes the 24 hours super productive and fun at the same time,” said Sina Meraji, one of the team members from the Software Challenge.

The teams each won cash prizes of MYR 2,000.

“We see a huge potential in additive manufacturing and the possibilities are limitless. We believe the Materialise Hackathon gave us a first-hand exposure to the wonders and challenges in 3D printing technology,” said Adam Shahir from the Design Challenge. “All the valuable resources such as on-site engineers and software programs to teach us about 3D Printing were readily available.”

Feedback from the event has been good, according to Firdaus Abhar, the event organizer. He sees Materialise as forging ahead in their mission ‘to make the world a better place.’

“As a company, we want to explore the possibility of 3D Printing with the general public. With the combination of mentors and participants, we think that this event is more like an advocacy for the best practice and explorations of 3D printing technology,” said Firdaus Abhar, the event organizer.

Discuss in the Materialise Malaysia forum at 3DPB.com.