Upcoming Hackathons and STEM Events in Australia
About
Bryce Cronin is an international award winning engineer and designer who has been recognised as an emerging leader in the Australian technology sector. He is the 2023 Young Engineer of the Year (ACT) and a Young Australian of the Year (ACT) finalist.
Bryce is passionate about harnessing technology in innovative ways for social good – He’s created robots for STEM education, designed 3D printed disability aids, and developed experimental apps for COVID-19 safety.
In 2021, Bryce launched Hackathons.com.au with the goal of promoting STEM events and challenges to young people in Australia. Hackathons.com.au has since promoted over 200 STEM events throughout the country and provided invaluable organisational support to event hosts.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bryce created free 3D-printable COVID-19 face shields, specifically with the aim of reaching individuals in developing nations. These designs were downloaded thousands of times and manufactured across the globe.
Building upon this success, Bryce’s passions for design and community service led to the launch of the Access3D initiative in 2022. A service that distributes free 3D printed accessibility devices within Australia.
7News Australia awarded Bryce the 2022 Online Achievement Award for his “contributions and dedication to STEM education and accessibility causes in the online space”.
Initiatives
Free 3D-Printed Accessibility Devices in Australia
Awards
2023
Young Australian of the Year Nominee (ACT)
Awarded for my committment to harnessing technology for social good.
2023
Meta AI Institute - Metaverse Policy Hackathon Runner Up
Runner up in the Meta and Seoul National Univeristy Artificial Intelligence Institute Metaverse Policy Hackathon.
2022
Young Professional Engineer of the Year (ACT)
Awarded for my committment to STEM education and the engineering profession through initiatives such as Hackathons.com.au, the UC Engineering Society, and Access3D.org.
2022
7News Young Achiever Awards - Online Achievement Award
Awarded for my committment to STEM education through initiatives such as Hackathons.com.au, the UC Engineering Society, and volunteering engagements.
2017-
2022
GovHack - International Winner
After first participating in GovHack in 2017, I made it my mission to try to win the top GovHack international prize, and after 5 years of competing, I achieved this goal in 2021.
Below is a quick summary of the different projects I’ve created for this annual hackathon since 2017. Please note that these projects are experimental or created as proof-of-concepts.
2022: Project ‘⚡💲’, an interactive data visualiser tool that allows you to experiment with adjusting the energy mix in various Australian cities by utilising public spaces and rooftops for renewable energy generation.
🏆 National: Honour Mention ‘Best Creative Use of Data in Response to ESG’ Award (Sponsored by GovHack).
2021: Project ‘Circles’, an app designed to promote circular economy initiatives happening in your local area.
🏆 International: Winner ‘Hack for a Circular Economy’ Award (Sponsored by Infosys).
🏆 ACT: Winner ‘Wellbeing in the ACT ‘ Award (Sponsored by ACT Gov).
🏆 NSW: Runner Up ‘BETTER Public Spaces’ Award (Sponsored by NSW Gov).
2020: Project ‘EnviroAssist’, an app designed to assist environmental scientists with monitoring changes in the environment over time to assist with bushfire recovery planning.
🏆 International: Runner Up ‘Science Tasker’ Award (Sponsored by AWS).
🏆 National: Runner Up ‘Data-driven Decisions’ Award (Sponsored by CSIRO).
🏆 ACT: Runner Up ‘Canberra Bouncing Back ‘ Award (Sponsored by ACT Gov).
🏆 VIC: Runner Up ‘Learning from the Past’ Award (Sponsored by VIC Gov).
2019: Project ‘UrTrash’, a smartphone app that displays the users estimated lifetime amount of generated plastics waste in Augmented Reality and suggests ways to cut down on waste
🏆 International: Runner Up ‘Increased participation in Plastic Free July’ Award (Sponsored by Encycle).
2019: Project ‘Future Jobs Finder’, a web app that intelligently suggests potential careers for young people based on their interests and predicted market growth.
🏆 National: Winner Australia’s Future Employment Award (Sponsored by Employment.gov.au).
🏆 ACT: Runner Up ‘Canberra 2029: Inclusive; Progressive; Connected’ Award (Sponsored by ACT Gov).
2018: Project ‘MyCity’, an app designed to increase participation in community-run events by gamifying attendance using Augmented Reality minigames.
🏆 National: Honourable Mention ‘Integrating AIHW’ Award (Sponsored by AIHW).
🏆 ACT: Winner ‘Healthy Canberra’ Award (Sponsored by ACT Gov).
2017: Project ‘Point-to-Point+’, a navigation tool designed to make traveling easier and safer for cyclists and pedestrians around Canberra using geographic data provided by the ACT Government.
🏆 ACT: Winner ‘First Hackers’ Award (Sponsored by ACT Gov).
🏆 ACT: Winner ‘Best Tertiary Hacker Team’ Award (Sponsored by University of Canberra).
2022
Distinguished Alumni Awards - Chancellor's Rising Star (Finalist)
Finalist for the UC Chancellor’s Rising Star Award for work on Hackathons.com.au and Access3D.org.
2021
APEC App Challenge - International Winner
The APEC App Challenge is a global annual software development challenge arranged as a joint initiative of the APEC Secretariat, The Asia Foundation, and Google. The 2021 challenge theme was ‘supporting the tourism sector post-COVID-19’.
I acheived first place for the development of the ‘OneQR Check-In’ project, which was an experimental app designed to assist travellers with easily managing the varying COVID-19 QR code check-in processes and check-in apps across multiple regions. More info: https://devpost.com/software/universal-qr-check-in
2021
Individual Community Service Award - Highly Commendable
Awarded the 2021 Community Service Highly Commendable Award at the Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Awards. These awards recognise individuals and groups of young people aged between 12 and 25 years who have made a significant contribution through their personal endeavours, or are actively involved in the ACT community in areas such as community work, sport, education, science, culture, the arts or the environment.
2021
Junction 2021 Hackathon - International Winner
Awarded for project ‘Niceify’, an experimental service that attempted to remove hate speech from live online voice-chat. More info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjybXaSPSb0
2021
Herbert Burton Medal
Awarded for achieving outstanding academic results and for making a valuable contribution to the University of Canberra and the wider community. The Herbert Burton Medal is presented to one student each academic year and is named in honour of Emeritus Professor Herbert Burton who chaired the committee that recommended the establishment of the University’s precursor institution, the Canberra College of Advanced Education.
2021
LiquidHacks International Hackathon - Best Accessibility Hack
Awarded for project ‘Big-Con’, an accessible 3D-printed game controller adapter that allows for people with fine motor control difficulties to use a controller. More info: https://devpost.com/software/big-con
2020
#FlattenTheCurve Hackathon - Winner
The ACS #FlattenTheCurve Hackathon was a 48 hours virtual hackathon to design unique and innovative solutions for challenges associated with COVID-19. My team won the ‘Protecting Vulnerable Populations’ challenge for designing a range of experimental 3D-printed face shields that were engineered to be inclusive and ready for mass production in developing countries. More info about my entry can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynXmRxycUvI.
2020
Emerging Leaders Scholarship
Selected as one of six emerging leaders from across Australia to attend the evokeAG agri-technology event in Melbourne by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology, an initiative of CSIRO and the Australian National University.
2020
Capstone Project Awards Finalist
Finalist at the University of Canberra IT & Systems Capstone Project Awards, alongside my project partner Christopher Lane, for our work on the Robotic Hexapod Platform project which utilised my “Anansi” hexapod robot design.
This robot was also used for Human-Robot Collaboration research and won 2nd place at the Engineers Australia Undergraduate Project Presentation awards.
2019
President of the Year
Awarded the UC President of the Year for my efforts leading the UC Engineering Society throughout 2018-2019. During this time the society succeeded in running multiple events each week, major robotics projects, as well as STEM outreach activities in Canberra. The society was also awarded the 2019 Academic Club of the Year and Best Physical Product awards.
2017
Engineers Without Borders Challenge - Finalist
My university group project which explored the concept of introducing lightweight telecommunications infrastructure to remote villages in Vanuatu was selected as a finalist in the 2017 Engineers Without Borders challenge.
2016
4x4 in Schools Challenge World Finals - 2nd Place
Achieved 2nd place at the world finals 4×4 in Schools Challenge event in England, an engineering competition where high-school students design and manufacture remote-controlled 4×4 vehicles.
Media
2023
How Hackathons Help Bryce Step Outside His Comfort Zone
2023
Re-Engineering Australia Alumni Profile: Bryce Cronin
2022
Australian of the Year Awards: Bryce Cronin Profile
2022
Meet Bryce Cronin, Engineers Australia ACT Committee Member
2022
Putting Engineering to Work in Service to the Community
2022
Replacing hateful language with a nice-ified alternative
2021
An App to Ease Safety QR Check-Ins Wins the APEC App Challenge
2021
APEC Challenge Advances Safety & Trust to Revive Region’s Tourism
2021
What is the Right to Repair Movement – and why do we need it?
2020
From GovHack to Way Beyond: Story of A Winner
2020
UC student making a case for better Human-Robot Collaboration
2020
Students win Flatten The Curve Hackathon
2020
Students help engineer solutions to COVID-19 challenges
2020
Uni students face up to mask shortage
2020
Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology: Meet Bryce Cronin
