News

In May 2025, the University hosted its first Hackathon | Games Jam, Hackabury 2025, bringing together students, alumni, academic staff, and industry leaders for a 24-hour challenge to spark innovation and collaboration. 

The event welcomed 88 students from across the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Social Sciences, and Creative Arts and Industries, and teams developed 25 unique solutions to real-world business challenges posed by industry sponsors.

Student teams tackled problems under time pressure, and solutions included applications for financial literacy, AI-driven onboarding tools, gamified cybersecurity training, and customer engagement platforms.

Industry partners included Romax Digital, Southeastern, Holiday Extras, Wave Community Bank, Barclays Life Skills, Dovetail Games, Google, Hootsuite, and the British Computing Society.

Jordan Pettman, Senior Data Analysis Manager at Southeastern, commented: “I was blown away by the creativity, it was amazing to watch ideas come to life. I've been reflecting a lot on how powerful group sessions free from traditional restraints can be in truly driving ideas and creativity.”

Stefanie Kennett, People Executive at Holiday Extras, said: “It was great to see so much passion, collaboration and innovation packed into a short space of time.”

The winning concepts were judged by a panel of industry professionals and alumni.