Payara Sustainability Hackathon Winners - Second Place

There’s no shortage of bright minds in software development. Exceptional individuals in the field are solving real-world problems with innovative approaches. As the deadline to submit your entries for our next Hackathon approaches, we look at the winning solutions of our past event, focused on sustainability.

In this interview with the 2nd prize winner, Ricardo Nicolás Canul Ibarra, we talk about his experience, Privee - the application he submitted at the hackathon and how this achievement will shape his future career.  

Are you working/studying?

Currently, I'm working. I've been applying my programming knowledge and growing both technically and professionally for a little over a year.

How long have you been coding?

I've been programming since late 2018, accumulating approximately five and a half years of programming experience.

What do you like the most about software development?

What I love most about software development is programming and the ability to solve complex problems to create solutions that add value to the software product. Additionally, I enjoy the process of continuous learning and the opportunity to collaborate with other professionals to develop software products.

What is your ultimate dream as a software developer?

My dream as a software developer is to excel in product engineering, capable of proposing and developing solutions for very challenging problems in a particular area. I want not only to grow technically but also to be able to contribute ideas and features that add significant value to the products I work on.

Why did you decide to take part in the Payara Hackathon?

I decided to participate in the Payara Hackathon to improve my skills with Java and Jakarta EE. Additionally, I wanted to learn more about the Java ecosystem beyond the Spring Framework and apply my knowledge to a practical project.

Can you please tell us more about the application you submitted?

Privee aims to address the issue of time loss in the entry and exit process of a private community. This project originated as an idea from a university course. Privee has the following objectives:

• Streamlining the entry process for vehicles into the private community.
• Streamlining the exit process for vehicles leaving the private community.
• Reducing the waiting time for entry and exit of guests and service providers.
• Decreasing the waiting time for residents affected by poor management of the guest and service entry process.
• Saving time for residents by eliminating the need to call or wait for the resident to respond.
• Reducing the time and tasks for gatekeepers personnel by reducing verifications or calling residents and waiting for a response.

What does Privee do?

Privee manages the entry and exit of residents, guests, and service providers in a private community. It allows residents to generate passes for guests, manage residents, gatekeepers, and administrators’ information, and verify the authenticity of passes to ensure a secure entry. 
The general process of the system is as follows:

• The entire system revolves around Invitations. A Resident can have 0 to many invitations.
• Only a resident can create an invitation. When an invitation is created, an image with a QR code is generated, and the resident is notified by email that the invitation has been created.
• Each of these invitations can only be validated by a Gatekeeper.
• When an invitation is validated, the date it was verified and the gatekeeper who verified it are recorded.
• Finally, the resident or an Admin can consult the history of the invitations

Why do you think Privee is important for sustainability?

Rather than focusing solely on sustainability, the Privee application aims to address a very common social problem in Yucatán, Mexico. In many gated communities in this region, the entry and exit process for residents, guests, and service providers can be highly inefficient, leading to long waits and frustrations. By optimizing this process, Privee significantly improves the quality of life for residents and visitors, facilitating more agile and secure management in these communities.

What does it mean to you to be among the winners?

Being among the winners of the hackathon is a great motivation to keep learning and improving. This achievement gives me confidence in my skills and encourages me to face new challenges in my professional career.

How do you think it will help your career?

This achievement will undoubtedly strengthen my resume, allowing me to continue developing my technical skills and preparing myself to take on more challenging projects in the future.

Have you got any plans for the future?

Yes, I plan to specialize in DevOps to enhance integration and continuous deployment in my projects. Additionally, I want to delve into product engineering and specialize in a particular area, such as the financial or banking sector. My goal is that with this repertoire of knowledge, I will be able to provide solutions to complex problems and add greater value to the products I work on. 

How did you find working with Payara Cloud?

I really liked how simple and easy it is to use for production deployments. The documentation and YouTube videos were very helpful in quickly learning how to use the platform. 

If this interview inspired you, why not take part in our latest online Hackathon? Deadline for submission is November 6th!