University of Sydney Business School Dean, Professor Leisa Sargeant congratulated the team, whose award was announced at a press conference during COP28 in Dubai this week.
“These highly innovative undergraduate students exemplify leadership for good. I have no doubt they will take what they have learned through this global challenge, and make a disproportionate positive difference in the world,” Professor Sargent said.
The team went from identifying the problem to creating the solution in 12 weeks, including coding the proof of concept in just three weeks using IBM Watson Studio and the IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite – despite only Ms Sutander having any prior coding experience.
“It didn’t happen overnight, but this shows through teamwork and passion, we have the skills and knowledge to tackle a real-world problem,” Mr Zhao said.
“It’s exciting to win the university grand prize and be recognised at COP28, but we really hope Phyto will actually be used to make a difference.”
