Filipino students from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) ranked second in the global Estee Lauder Companies Hackathon (ELC Hackaton) held last Oct. 28.

Launched in 2018, the ELC Hackaton focuses on product design, user experience, and technology.

UA&P students Jove Calalo, Javier Luis Barreiro, Danielle Marie Peralta, Jose Hector Calilung, and the team's coach Jamie Emilie Alabin placed as first runner-ups in the competition, besting students and alumni from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California Berkeley, New York University, University College London, University of Toronto, and professionals from EPAM Systems, Accenture, and Estee Lauder.

Placing first was a team of students from the Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology in India, while a joint team of the University of Toronto and University of College London students and alumni ranked third.

The students are members of Icarus, UA&P's competitive hackathon team and were coached by Jamie Emilie Alabin, the founding captain of Icarus.

This marks the first time an all-Filipino student team has won in the hackathon. This places them alongside previous hackathon winners from prominent universities and corporations such as Cornell University, the University of Southern California, Johnson & Johnson, and Walmart.