QNU - Demonstrating their prowess in IT, leadership, and entrepreneurship, Quy Nhon University (QNU) students made a significant impact at the 2024 UNESCO UNITWIN Advanced Workshop and Hackathon hosted by Sookmyung Women's University in South Korea. A delegation of 12 female students from QNU participated in the event, held from November 11th to 15th, joining nearly 70 bright minds from seven universities across four Southeast Asian countries: Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, to collaborate on innovative solutions.

The opening ceremony of 2024 Sookmyung UNESCO UNITWIN Advanced Workshop.

The QNU students, representing various faculties and departments, immersed themselves in a dynamic program featuring workshops, lectures, and a challenging hackathon. The program provided a valuable platform to learn from leading experts in fields such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, sustainable development, and digital entrepreneurship areas in which Sookmyung Women's University is renowned.

12 excellent female students of Quy Nhon University participated in the workshop.

"This experience was truly eye-opening," said Hong Anh and Ngoc Diem, two students from the Department of Education and the Department of Foreign Languages. "The opportunity to collaborate with students from other countries and learn from the experienced professors at Sookmyung Women's University was invaluable. The hackathon challenged us to think outside the box and apply our business skills to real-world problems".

Over the course of five days, the 12 students attended the Leadership and Entrepreneurship Training and Digital Technology Training with the student group of the University Network under the UNESCO-UNITWIN project. In the digital training sessions, participants gained basic knowledge of Python, its applications in data science, program development using datasets, and ways to build AI models to solve real-world problems as practical implementations of data science. Meanwhile, the Leadership Class equipped participants with skills to develop social businesses aligned with the SDGs through social research, business model development, branding strategies, application design, and user scenario planning.

A moment of the IT Class.

A moment of the Leadership Class.

In addition to the intensive training sessions, students also participated in field trips to leading South Korean companies and SMEs. These visits, which included a tour of the innovation hub at Samsung Electronics and a workshop at the sustainable fashion startup RE:CODE, provided valuable insights into the practical application of entrepreneurship and digital expertise in real-world settings.

The highlight of the program was the closing ceremony, where students shared their engagement with the training results and their comprehensive experience with Korean culture and technology. Three QNU students were among the eight winners: Pham Thi Thu Tam, Nguyen Bich Lam (Department of Education), and Tran Thy Van (Department of Natural Sciences). Thu Tam and her teammates won the best presenter award for the digital class. They impressed the judges by building and piloting a predictive model for a bank marketing campaign, using Python and data science techniques to analyze customer data. Bich Lam and Thy Van were part of the team that won the first-place prize in the Leadership Course. Their project, titled "SIGNALL - Disaster Management Platform," is a mobile app that coordinates disaster response by allowing individuals, local authorities, and relief organizations to quickly request and dispatch emergency supplies via drones equipped with nudge kits (food, water, first-aid supplies, hygiene products, etc.).

Thu Tam (second from the left) and her team received the certificate.

Bich Lam, Thy Van and their team received the certificate.

The closing ceremony of the 2024 Sookmyung UNESCO UNITWIN Advanced Workshop.

The participation of QNU students in the 2024 UNESCO UNITWIN Advanced Workshop and Hackathon underscores the university's growing international profile and its commitment to fostering innovation and global citizenship among its students, aligning with QNU's strategic goals of enhancing its students' international competitiveness and fostering collaborations with leading global universities. The success of the QNU delegation highlights the high caliber of Vietnamese students and their potential to contribute to the advancement of technology and business in the region.

The QNU students returned to Vietnam not only with awards and newfound knowledge but also with lasting memories, international connections, and a renewed passion for innovation. They are eager to share their experiences and insights with their peers at Quy Nhon University, further contributing to the university's vibrant academic community and its mission to produce globally competitive graduates. This successful participation also paves the way for further collaboration between Quy Nhon University and Sookmyung Women's University under the UNESCO UNITWIN framework.

Nguyen Xuan Hong