Trio triumph at datathon

Proving their mettle: (from left) Chiah, Heng and Hooi cited their incorporation of XAI as one of their winning factors.

ARMED with three years’ worth of data mining, machine learning (ML) and deep learning knowledge, a trio from Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) took part in a “datathon” and showed they have what it takes to solve practical problems through the application of data science tools and techniques.

Their capability won them the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Special Award at the RHB Get Your Hack On: Data Edition 2022, which was held in January and saw the participation of 15 shortlisted finalists out of 101 teams.

In the open competition, Team Outlier comprising Heng Yi Sheng, Chiah Yi Her and Hooi Jun Ming vied with working professionals to create functional algorithms, meaningful insights and exciting applications using datasets provided by the organiser to solve different challenges.

The final year computer science undergraduates specialising in data analytics studies cited their incorporation of explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) as one of their winning factors.

“We used XAI to explain features that contributed to the prediction. We believed the ability of the model to explain the features contributing to the prediction is highly appreciated in the industry,” said team leader Heng in a press release on Feb 22.

He also expressed the team’s gratitude to lecturers who had shaped them, especially Dr Preethi Subramanian for introducing them to XAI, which he said is the most recent research in the field of AI.

“She is my final year project supervisor who is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in ML and AI.

“Her dedication, involvement and encouragement have allowed me to conduct profound research in the field of ML and AI,” he added.

On their participation at the challenge, Heng said it had always been their desire to put to the test the skills they had learnt.

“We had been looking for a data-related challenge where we would be given datasets to solve a defined problem. We wanted to see how far we could go with our skills and knowledge,” he shared.

“Besides, we wanted to get out of our comfort zones and grow as young professionals by pitching our ideas to industry,” he added.

Chancing on the competition on social media, they decided to give it a shot, doing research on the company and its banking products.

During the preliminary round, the team spent three days to prepare for the live demo of their solution aimed at giving better customer experience in digital banking.

“We had to burn the midnight oil,” Heng recalled.

They then proceeded to the final round where they were given five additional days to enhance their project by deploying the solution in a web application.

The team concurred that the competition provided an opportunity for them to learn from other teams’ solutions and creative ideas in tackling the problems given.

In line with the “strive for excellence” ethos at APU, it had also boosted their confidence and allowed them to connect with new people, they said.