Persatuan Mahasiswa Sains Komputer (PERSAKA) from the School of Computing, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) had successfully organized a Fundraising Carnival X Hackathon to bring students’ creativities and talents in programming and cybersecurity into full play through Hackathon competition and give in-depth exposure about entrepreneurial abilities as well as a head start for career opportunities in the future upon graduating through Fundraising Carnival. The program was held from 20 May 2022 until 27 May 2022.

The Fundraising Carnival X Hackathon, which was one of the largest and most anticipated events, was held using a variety of online platforms, including Webex Meetings and Facebook Live, and attracted a great deal of interest from the School of Computing students.

This year, the Fundraising Carnival deviated from its usual focus on entrepreneurship by teaming up with CyberX and Techno Genius to boost the program’s values.

The program began with an introduction and demonstration by the Vice President of CyberX regarding the Hackathon competition “Capture the Flag” (CTF). In brief, the participants will be provided with flags bearing decipherable inscriptions. The participants must then upload the deciphered text on the CyberX website and will be awarded points according to the difficulties of the challenge. The contestants were given a few days to complete the challenges.

On the last day of the Hackathon, a talk was conducted by the members of CyberX to give exposure to the participants about cybersecurity and ethical hacking.

Next, the Fundraising Carnival was held after the completion of the Hackathon competition. Fundraising Carnival inaugurated the event with an opening speech, officiated by the Advisor of Persatuan Mahasiswa Sains Komputer (PERSAKA), Dr Iqbal Tariq Bin Idris.

It was then followed by a “Generating Side Income while Studying” talk by Mr Abdul Rahman bin Mohd Jamadi, the Director and CEO of AJ Geeks Sdn. Bhd. (IT.Geeks).

The talk delivered by Mr Abdul Rahman gave a lot of insights related to the topic such as time management and types of jobs available for students to try out while studying.

The program was then continued with Q&A and goods selling sessions.

On the last day of the Fundraising Carnival, the program started out with a talk “The Beginning of Pantai Education Sdn. Bhd” by the Chief Technology Officer of Pandai Education, Mr Akmal Akhpah.

Through this session, the participants gained a lot of knowledge related to startup companies and the journey of rapidly expanding technological startups. Mr Akmal also provided guidance on how to kickstart a career after graduation. The sharing concluded with a Q&A and photo sessions before moving on to the lucky draw and goods selling sessions.

Lastly, the program came to an end with the President of PERSAKA, Muhamad Adli Hanis bin Abdul Shukor and the Chair of the School of Computing, Prof. Ts. Dr Wan Mohd Nasir bin Wan Kadir officiating the closing ceremony.

In conclusion, with the success of the Fundraising Carnival X Hackathon which attracted many participants from diverse backgrounds and faculties, it is hoped that PERSAKA from the School of Computing, UTM can continue to further hold varieties of insightful programs.