The AI hackathon, held in March 2025 in Tampere, Finland, was one of the largest student events of ECIU University, and the largest multinational on-site challenge organized by Tampere University. The participants came from eight universities across Europe.
Article prepared by Tampere University:
The AI Hackathon event sparked interest among students, particularly because the future and practicality of AI are intriguing. Eliza Podsiadła and Daniyar Zhumatayev from Lodz University of Technology were both particularly interested in how the new AI technologies can be used in practice in the future.
Zhumatayev notes that he has been following developments in AI for a while now, and the chance to build something useful while meeting like-minded students from other countries was too good to pass up. Podsiadła agrees.
“AI is becoming an essential part of the business world, and I wanted to understand it beyond just theory. As a business student, I initially wondered what my role at a hackathon would be, but I quickly realized that AI is not just about coding – it is about solving problems in a user-centered way,” says Podsiadła.
ECIU University Engages Students in AI Assistant Development
At the hackathon, international student teams developed personal AI assistants that can enhance learning environments and experiences in the future. AI prototypes were created and evaluated by industry experts and judged by practicality and impact.
Henri Pirkkalainen was pleased with the student teams’ achievements at the hackathon and sees potential to develop them further. Pirkkalainen is a professor of information management at Tampere University and leader of the development of digital credentials and flexible learning paths at the ECIU network.
“I think that in the future, especially this type of assistant AI will play a significant role in learning. AI does not perform critical thinking, but it helps to manage large entities and students could use assistants for career planning or navigating their studies. The AI prototypes created at the hackathon were designed, for example, for this purpose," Pirkkalainen says.
Student teams created AI chatbots that ranged from AI tutors helping in navigating learning opportunities and career paths to AI experts that could assist in effective learning. Two teams created AI avatar assistants with a physical human-like embodiment. These avatars could be met in ECIU’s virtual environments or via computer or smartphone screen. The student teams envisioned multiple ways how ECIU’s engage-platform could become more engaging and motivating to use with the help of these AI assistants.
“The next phase at ECIU University is to start the requirements elicitation process to create the first version of the ECIU AI assistant for the engage-platform. The student teams will be co-creators in this process,” says professor Pirkkalainen.
The ECIU Hackathon fostered international and interdisciplinary collaboration
The student teams in the Hackathon were both international and interdisciplinary. Besides getting to code the AI assistants, the teamwork during the Hackathon had other benefits as well. Podsiadła mentioned that working in an interdisciplinary team sharpened her teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills.
“Our team had people from three different countries, and it was amazing how quickly we bonded over our shared challenge. I learned that building something meaningful in just three days is actually possible when you have the right team!” Zhumatayev continues.
A student of industrial engineering and management at Tampere University, Aapo Piirainen, said he enjoyed the experience because it allowed him to come together with people he usually does not meet on campus. Diverse international connections may also be beneficial in the future.
Podsiadła and Zhumatayev agreed with Piirainen that international and interdisciplinary connections can benefit them in the future.
“The connections I made are already proving valuable. I am still in touch with teammates and other participants through LinkedIn, and we're sharing opportunities and ideas. These kinds of international experiences make you stand out when applying for jobs or internships,” Zhumatayev concludes.
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Caption:
AI Hackathon empowered students with teamwork and problem-solving skills. Additionally, students from eight ECIU member universities gained knowledge of the latest AI techniques and had the opportunity to network with industry experts.
Lotta Teppo, Tampere University (text)
Jonne Renvall, Tampere University (photos)
