PLMayer clinches grand prize at National Technovation Summit 2025

Franchezca Banayad, a Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) second-year student from the College of Engineering, together with her team Carmen the Parasight, was named grand winner of the Start-Up Hackathon at the National Technovation Summit 2025, held in Marco Polo Plaza, Cebu City last August 30-31. Banayad shared that winning the national competition felt surreal, especially since it was her first time participating in a hackathon and she began the journey without knowing her teammates. "Our solution is not just a mere innovation, it is a call, a protest. A call to demand better, not just in healthcare, but in every right that every Filipino deserves," she added. Their project, LingapLink, is an AI-powered healthcare platform created to enhance the Philippine medical system by streamlining triage, booking, communication, and record management, with the goal of making healthcare more efficient and accessible. This year marks the very first Start-up Hackathon, following the recent founding of the Scholars Transforming Advancement and Research for Technology (START) Organization. The competition kicked off with a series of STARTer Workshops from June 14 to August 2, which led to the selection of the Top 5 finalists from 13 participating teams across various regions. The hackathon aimed to equip DOST-SEI scholars with technical, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills to build scalable, impactful solutions.