Hydrogen Hackathon, discovering the potential of green hydrogen

Impact Hydrogen, the Central University of Technology in South Africa, and the University of Groningen organised its first virtual Hydrogen Hackathon from 9th to 11th June. The event brought together talented teams of students and professionals from The Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, and Namibia to explore the role of green hydrogen in regional development.

We opened the event with inspiring keynote speeches and expert talks, coupled with guidance from Virtual Hackathon. The winning teams were awarded cash prizes to support their further endeavours in the field.

Sustainable regional growth

The first day of the Hydrogen Hackathon featured captivating keynotes and expert talks by industry and academic professionals from South Africa and The Netherlands. Attendees engaged in insightful discussions, uncovering the vast potential of green hydrogen as a catalyst for sustainable regional growth. These sessions set a framework for the teams to answer the central challenge of the hackathon: "How can green hydrogen contribute to regional development?"

Under the guidance of the European Hackathon Platform, teams worked passionately to brainstorm and develop creative solutions. They collaborated and used their diverse skills and knowledge to address the challenge. The Hackathon Platform's expertise and mentorship played a crucial role in shaping the teams' ideas and refining their proposals.

Innovative solutions

On the final day, the teams presented their innovative solutions to the jury, consisting of Christabel Seitinei, Nienke Homan, and Dulce Morales Hernandez. They had the difficult task of selecting the winners from a pool of highly professional teams, many of whom already had experience working with hydrogen technologies.

The winners of the Hydrogen Hackathon showcased the interdisciplinary approach of the hackathon:

1. Hydrocators and Us: A topic on awareness (50,000 R)
2. FEEMAB Hydrogen: A topic on Sustainable Mobility (30,000 R)
3. Geeks: Efficient Hydrogen leak detection (20,000 R)

Potential of green hydrogen

We are extremely proud and happy with the successful outcome of the Hydrogen Hackathon. The event highlighted the power of collaboration between students from several universities and innovation in addressing complex challenges and discovering the potential of green hydrogen to reduce CO2 emission.

Together with our partners we hope that this was just the beginning of a series of hackathons that will help governments and private companies to tackle pressing questions related to hydrogen.