More than 120 participants and 20 industry mentors came together for 48 hours of intensive AI innovation, bringing education, technology and industry closer together

Last week, 15 Rosmini College students competed in the AI Forum NZ "AI for Good" Hackathon Festival at Unitec Mt Albert, run alongside Seen Ventures. Fresh off our internal AI Hackathon, the Rosmini boys were the only secondary school students among more than 120 participants, industry professionals, and university students.

Despite being the youngest in the room, the boys quickly found their feet - collaborating at the whiteboards, coding, and refining their prototypes over an intensive 48-hour period. By the final pitch session in the main lecture theatre, our students delivered clear, confident presentations alongside their adult teammates.

Special congratulations to team SchoolFuel, who won first place overall. Composed of six Rosmini Year 13 students and two adult teammates (including a Rosmini parent), the team developed an app connecting schools with business funding partners. The judges praised the simple concept and strong execution.

Thanks to Seen Ventures, the team will receive ongoing support to continue developing their product, and are in the running to represent Tāmaki Makaurau at the national final in Wellington later this year.

SchoolFuel members:

• Mason Beecher
• Laine Dominey
• Jack Lamont
• Risandu Salman
• Yanula Silva
• Janek Wakuluk

The achievement highlighted a successful crossover between technical coding skills developed under Mr. Lennard John and strategic commercial planning from Business Studies students. Tech leaders at the event praised the boys' advanced technical abilities.

From participating in our first internal hackathon to winning a major regional event, our students demonstrated exactly what "AI for Good" looks like in practice. They didn't just discuss technology - they built it, pitched it, and took home the win.