East Texas A&M University’s Marketing and Business Analytics Department hosted Hackathon Fall 2024, a weeklong competition that brought together 20 students to tackle a real-world business challenge. Held from November 14-19 and sponsored by the College of Business, the event highlighted the technical expertise and creativity of ETAMU students.
Participants worked on improving Amazon's ranking system for customer-prioritized product features, using Estée Lauder products as a case study. Teams utilized Generative AI to analyze customer reviews, extract key insights, and optimize recommendations.
The competition culminated in presentations to an external panel of judges, including Trang Nguyen, tax director at Triton Partners, and Jasmin Ng, senior business data transformation manager at M&G PLC. Winners were selected based on creativity, implementation, and professionalism.
Results and Awards
- First Place: Faisal Rahman Chowdhury and Tazeen Rashid for their innovative, data-driven solution.
- Best Professionalism & Best Actionable Recommendation: Team led by Princess Odio.
Reflecting on her win, Rashid stated, “This hackathon deepened my knowledge of machine learning, natural language processing, and sentiment analysis. It was a highly rewarding experience.”
An awards ceremony on November 21 at ETAMU’s Dallas site celebrated the participants’ achievements. Dr. Zaki Malik, department head, emphasized the value of hackathons in preparing students for real-world careers.
“Hackathons like this one are a testament to the strength of our program,” Malik said. “They provide opportunities for students to solve real-world problems and compete at high levels.”
Hackathon Fall 2024 reinforced East Texas A&M’s commitment to innovation and experiential learning, preparing students to excel in the evolving business and technology landscape.
