Students from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) excelled at the recently held 2024 Ballerina Hackathon, taking first, second, and third places.

 Ballerina is an open-source programming language for cloud-native development, designed to simplify the use, combination, and creation of network services.

 The event, collaboration between NUST and leading software company WS02, challenged Namibian developers to push the boundaries of application programming interface (API) integration, microservices orchestration, and event-driven systems.

 Revolutionising Processes Second-year NUST Software Engineering student Frans Nekongo, captivated the judges with an innovative feedback and memo system powered by Ballerina, Kafka, and MongoDB. The project earned him first place and a cash prize of N$9 000, in recognition of its potential to revolutionise communication processes.

 “I plan to deploy my project globally, using the Choreo platform after refining its functionalities,” said Nekongo after scooping the prize.

 Isabel Tchikenge and Theodore Ndenge’s Tech Mavericks earned N$5 400 for their ingenious microservices orchestration solution to streamline healthcare operations. This project demonstrated how Ballerina could transform healthcare efficiency through automation.

 More than 20 teams participated in the hackathon, which served as a platform to showcase technical prowess while tackling real-world integration challenges.

 This project demonstrated how Ballerina could transform healthcare efficiency through automation. Meanwhile, the third place team – AttendMasters, made up of Ismael Mudjanima, Asher Samwaka, Saya Mubiana, and Miles Katjimune – took home N$3 600 for their user-friendly digital attendance register, designed to modernise the university’s administrative processes and enhance campus efficiency.

 Mudjanima said: “The support from the Ballerina team, the NUST community, and my lecturer, Ms Nashandi, made this experience unforgettable and inspiring.” By equipping students with the skills and experience to address pressing challenges, the event underscored the university’s commitment to fostering innovation and empowering the next generation of tech leaders.