A team from Republic Polytechnic, comprising 1 second-year and 3 first-year students, took part in the JavaJive Challenge, organized by Sun Microsystems. The event was held at ITE East on 28 April 2006, with competitors from other Polytechnics and ITEs.

The competition required the participants to develop a creative and innovative IT application or solution using Java, NetBeans, and Solaris as the technology platform. The application or solution had to address a business need of a focused industry and must be accompanied with a business plan. Selected teams also had to present their applications and business plans to the judges on judging day. 10 awards were given out for creativity, feasibility of business plan and best team effort.  The champion would also win S$1,000 and a trip to the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco in May 2006.

 

The RP team started preparing for this competition in February 2006. Despite their initial lack of knowledge on Java programming and business, they made full use of the skills acquired through RP’s PBL (Problem Based Learning) approach, which helped them overcome the obstacles. With a combination of hard work, perseverance, advice from facilitators and the problem solving skills honed at RP, our students developed a business plan and application to download and analyse stock data from SGX and NASDAQ. They eventually emerged tops in their category, against teams from other institutions.  

San Francisco, here they come!!