Media Release - 2020 Virtual AgriTech Hackathon draws global attendance

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Media Release

Media Release - 2020 Virtual AgriTech Hackathon draws global attendance

The second annual Agritech Hackathon, brought to you by the Town of Lincoln and empowered by Spark Niagara, closed on November 8 and has been deemed an overwhelming success.

Despite the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held virtually and welcomed more than 210 attendees, 35 teams and 131 participants from across 22 different countries - more than doubling last year’s attendance. With such a diverse group of hackers, the event resulted in a variety of viable solutions facing problems in today’s agriculture, horticulture, and ecotourism sectors.

“The success and growth of this year’s event not only draws light on our agricultural and agricultural-related sector locally, but also globally,” said Town of Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton. “As a Council we have implemented a number of policy decisions that have made Lincoln a Centre of Excellence for Agriculture, this innovative event showcases our agricultural strength to the world.”

“By being a major player to solutions that are impacting today’s modern agricultural sector, it solidifies the importance of our local and regional economy,” said Paul MacPherson, Ward 3 Councillor and Chair of the Town of Lincoln’s Planning and Economic Development Committee. “We would like to send a big shout out to this year’s participants, sponsors, partners, panelists, keynote speakers, and everyone who helped make the 2020 AgriTech Hackathon a big success.”

In 2019, the Town of Lincoln developed Ontario’s first ever AgriTech Hackathon to bring together agriculture and tech to provide innovative solutions to the challenges facing modern agriculture.

For more information on the hackathon and Lincoln’s agricultural sector, visit www.lincoln.ca/economic-development or www.agritechhackathon.ca.

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For more information, please contact:

Liliana Busnello

Manager of Corporate Communications

Town of Lincoln

Direct: 905-563-2799 ext. 230

Tel: 905-563-8205

lbusnello@lincoln.ca


List of Winners:

Level 1: Elementary (gr. 7-8) & Secondary

First place

  • Lucas Pijil - Great Lakes Christian High School – Beamsville, ON Canada
  • Owen Leenstra - Great Lakes Christian High School – Beamsville, ON Canada
  • Mayo Olusanya - Great Lakes Christian High School – Beamsville, ON Canada

Second place

  • Daksh Khurana - Malviya Shiksha Sadan Senior Secondary School - Sonipat, India
  • Jacob Szczepanski - Beamsville District Secondary School – Beamsville, ON Canada
  • Yulee Kang - Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology - Richmond Hill, ON Canada
  • Andriana Jhiingory - Calvert High School - St. Leonard, Maryland, USA

Level 2: Post-Secondary & Professional

First place

  • Thomas Lillo - Professional - St. Catharines, ON Canada
  • Nour Hage - Professional - St. Catharines, ON Canada
  • Adam Gringbergs - Professional - St. Catharines, ON Canada
  • Asad Jalib - Professional - Vaughan, ON Canada

Second place

  • Rachit Bhargava - Student - Georgia Institute of Technology - Atlanta, Georgia
  • Ryan Faulkner - Student - Georgia Institute of Technology - Atlanta, Georgia
  • Heijin (Soph) Kim - Student - Georgia Institute of Technology - Atlanta, Georgia

Third place

  • Elijah James - Professional – Professional - St John's, Antigua & Barbuda
  • Seimone Joseph - Professional – Professional - St John's, Antigua & Barbuda
  • Nico Matthias - Professional – Professional - St John's, Antigua & Barbuda