APQueue Wins The 30-Hour No-Code Hackathon | Asia Pacific University (APU)

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APQueue Wins The 30-Hour No-Code Hackathon


An all-in-one solution that can help APU students in eliminating long queues and high average waiting times


From left: Mr. Victor Khoo Shien Yang and Mr. Amad Arshad (mentor) pose with APQueue creators, Tan Wei Siang, Jordan Sahabudin, Goi Yi Shen, Jackson Tai, and Gan Wei Jun from the Techify team.

Queuing is the best option for ensuring fairness and speeding up the process because by forming a queue, each person takes their turn in order and waits their fair share of time for the resource or service.

If there was no queue, the situation could become chaotic and unfair. People may push or cut in line, resulting in arguments and frustration. Furthermore, some customers may be served faster than others, creating an unfair situation.

However, waiting in a long queue can be frustrating and time-consuming. So, how do we manage long queues wisely? APQueue, an app created by five Software Engineering students from Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) to plan ahead and organise long queues, could be the answer.

APQueue is an all-in-one solution that can help APU students in eliminating long queues and high average wait times at the cafeteria, parking, APCard top-up kiosks, appointments in the Bursary, Library discussion rooms, Oceana Clinic, psychology services, Academic Administration, Student Services, TECH Centre, and Career Centre.

Tan Wei Siang, Jordan Sahabudin, Goi Yi Shen, Gan Wei Jun, and Jackson Tai of team Techify won first place for their invention APQueue in the 30-Hour No-Code Hackathon organised by APU, Awantec Systems Sdn. Bhd. (formerly known as Prestariang Systems Sdn. Bhd.), and Google Malaysia.


(Front row, from left) Ms Nur Azyyati Ahmad and APU students pose with Mr Muhammad Khalil Abu Kasim (Google), Ms Lee Wai Theng (Google), Mr Ali Reza Azmi (Awantec), and Mr Sritharan Krishnasamy (Awantec), speakers for the Awantec and Google Malaysia Workshop.

Awantec Systems initiated the hackathon, with the theme ‘Improve University Life’ and partner with the School of Technology (SoT) and School of Computing (SoC) lead by Ms Nur Azyyati Ahmad and Ms Chong Mien May.

Others committee members including Ms. Tan Li June, Ms. Mary Ting, Mr Lee Kim Keong, Ms. Noris Ismail, Mr. Shahab Alizadeh, Mr. Mohd Hanis Jenalis, Ms. Zaireeda Mohd Fauzee, Mr. Joshua Samual, Ms. Zety Marlia Zainal Abidin and Dr. Intan Farahana Kamsin.

The hackathon drew 166 participants (36 teams) from various schools who came together to create software applications or other digital projects using no-code tools — software platforms that allow users to build applications or websites without writing any code, drag-and-drop interfaces, pre-built templates, and visual workflows to quickly and easily create complex applications.

During the hackathon, participants worked in teams to complete their projects in 30 hours. The event typically includes workshops, mentoring sessions, and networking opportunities to help participants develop their skills and connect with other like-minded individuals.

At the end of the 30-hour period, each team presented their project to a panel of judges, Mr Raja Azmi Adam (Country Director Google for Education - Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei), Mr Eric Ngai (CTO of Awantec Systems Sdn. Bhd.), Mr Ali Reza Azmi (Head of Technology Learning Awantec Systems Sdn. Bhd.), Prof. Ir. Eur. Ing. Ts. Dr. Vinesh Thiruchelvam (APU Chief Innovation & Enterprise Officer) and Dr Julia Juremi (APU Head of the Forensic and Cyber Security Research Centre) who evaluate it based on criteria such as creativity, functionality, and user experience.


Assoc. Prof. Dr. Thang Ka Fei, Mr Eric Ngai, Mr Raja Azmi Adam, Mr Gurpardeep Singh, and Prof. Ir. Eur. Ing. Ts. Dr. Vinesh Thiruchelvam pose for a photo before the prize-giving ceremony.

“No-code hackathons are becoming increasingly popular as no-code tools become more powerful and accessible,” said Ms Nur Azyyati as the project coordinator, added that “The hackathon offers a unique opportunity for individuals with little or no coding experience to participate in software development, showcase their skills and creativity and also promote collaboration, learning, and innovation, making them an exciting and rewarding experience for all involved.”

Teamwork makes the dream work

Team Techify members actively participated in the brainstorming and research session and broke down the larger task into smaller ones by establishing end goals to improve APU’s university life.

With the help of their mentor Mr Amad Arshad and Mr Victor Khoo Shien Yang (APU alumni), Techify learn some biggest lessons from this hackathon including teamwork, motivating each other’s, time management, and pitching in concise and easy understanding.

Before working with the APQueue, they conducted questionnaire surveys, several case studies, observations, and interviews with the stakeholders involved in order to understand the existing problems faced by APU students. They then discussed their solutions and validated their ideas, which were accepted by everyone.

“Winning this hackathon is a bonus for us because it gives us the opportunity to meet with Google’s Raja Azmi Adam and also a golden opportunity to meet and share our idea with APU CEO, Datuk Parmjit Singh, who expressed full support for the idea.


All three top winners (Team Techify, Lifehackers, and IDK) and their mentors paid a visit to Google Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur.

“APU has exposed us to the industry world, internship, as well as collaboration with top companies for professional courses and workshops, for example, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and many more.

“We want to continue APQueue and begin implementation in order to benefit everyone at APU, and we will also continue to participate in many more competitions as we want to aspire other students,” said Wei Siang, Techify’s team leader.

Team Lifehackers (Yee Zhi Ying, Ewe Li Wei, Evonne Yim Vee Vern, Chong Yi Shien, and Chua Rou Lin) finished second, with team IDK (Aakif Ahamath, David Wee, Boey Shu Wee, Lim Gin Young, and Adjani Puteri) coming in third under the mentor of Ts. Jerry Chong Chean Fuh and Mr Lee Kim Keong.

The top three winners get to visit the Google Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur and a cash prize of RM2,000 (Techify), RM1,000 (Lifehackers), and RM500 (IDK), while all participants receive a digital certification, an Awantec t-shirt, and other prizes, as well as the opportunity to attend an Awantec and Google Malaysia Workshop.