The hackathon consisted of teams competing to design the best electric vehicle. It consisted of a preliminary stage (July 2–3), which enabled orientation and the purchasing of materials, and the main event (July 10–¬12), where idea implementation took place. In the main event the participants were evaluated based on the following factors: the design of the housing of the electric vehicle, the proposals for mobility, the completion of vehicle production, the implementation of the idea, the testing of driving performance, and the final presentation. For this year’s hackathon, five teams participated, each consisting of six to eight undergraduates. The criteria on which they were judged were the extent to which they incorporated IoT into their vehicle, and its eco-friendliness and safety. Within these parameters they had to build and demonstrate a single-passenger electric vehicle that could be actually driven.

The final presentation took place on July 12, the last day of the event. At the special driving course temporarily set up on the basketball court on the Natural Science Campus, the participants demonstrated the vehicles they had built. The first prize winner was the team Cardians of the Galaxy, led by Seung-Hyun Kim (Department of Health and Environmental Science). The second prize went to Goodriver, led by Joo-Won Kim (Department of Electrical Engineering). Lastly, the third prize was given to Fury Chamsari, led by Seong-Joo Lee (Department of Mechanical Engineering). Each member of the first-placed team received a scholarship of one million won, and members of the second- and third-placed teams each received five hundred thousand won.



Various open sources of information were accessible to the students, who could apply selected information to their project.
A comprehensive manual was provided to enable them to handle emergencies.

Since this was the second future vehicle hackathon, KU Makerspace was able to fine-tune their arrangements based on their experience of the previous event. Unlike the first hackathon, where there were limitations on the open sources provided, the participants were able to diversify their product outcomes by accessing various open sources this time. Professional yoga instructors were there to provide yoga instruction for the relief of the stress and tension caused during the three-day-long event. Moreover, a comprehensive manual was provided to enable the participants to handle emergencies at night when the mentors were not present.

Seung-Hyun Kim (’16, Department of Health and Environmental Science) from the winning team Cardians of the Galaxy says, “For this event, we formed a team from several departments: the Department of Electrical Engineering, the Department of Industrial Management Engineering, and the School of Art and Design. It was rather difficult for us because we had different ideas on the design and implementation, depending on our major. However, I am proud that we accepted the differences, respected each others’ opinions and finally managed to complete the task with great success.”

Seon-In Kim (Department of Mechanical Engineering, 14) from Goodriver admits, “I was a bit surprised because engineering majors tend to focus on what can be implemented immediately. But students from other majors threw ideas around even though they may have seemed unfeasible. I learned to diversify my viewpoint.” Eun-Jeong Kim (School of Art and Design) from Cardians of the Galaxy says, “In many cases, designs remain in our imagination and are never realized. But as I experienced the implementation and application of our ideas to the stage of producing an actual vehicle, I realised that I should be more realistic before I express my ideas from now on. I learned that, in order to create something, we must go beyond the restrictions of our own major and pay attention to all aspects, even those we're not familiar with, in my case engineering.”