Exhibiting global competitiveness in artificial intelligence and educational technology, Team ApexNode of Naga College Foundation, Inc. (NCF) achieved a historic Top 16 finish at the Grand Finale of the 1st ASEAN AI Hackathon 2026, held in Da Nang, Vietnam, from August 19 to 21, 2026.
Out of 240 competing teams from higher education institutions across nine ASEAN member nations, Team ApexNode with their groundbreaking project, ‘SentryMesh,’ stood out as one of only two teams from the entire Bicol region to reach the prestigious grand final stage in Vietnam.
‘SentryMesh’—an alternative communication platform designed to address the limitations of conventional networks during severe weather events—provides a resilient, decentralized, and adaptive system that enables real-time information exchange even when traditional infrastructure becomes unreliable or unavailable.
Team ApexNode’s path to the finals began during the initial selection phase in May and June 2026, where they secured a strong 8.471 average score to land safely within the Top 40, earning their berth in the functional prototype development phase.
By July 2026, Passage to ASEAN (P2A) International officially announced that ApexNode had advanced through the semifinals, locking in a coveted spot in the Top 4 shortlist for the Climate Change Resilience track.
The student innovator team is composed of Computer Studies students John Paul A. Cambiado, Daniel Q. Bonito, Francine M. Dela Torre, and Karl Vincent C. Suayan, under the expert guidance of their faculty adviser, Mr. John Roy Galvez.
During the three-day grand finals, ApexNode went head-to-head with Southeast Asia’s top student tech talents, culminating in their landmark Top 16 placement.
Accompanying the team in Da Nang to extend institutional support were Mr. Mario C. Villanueva, NCF President; Dr. Nico A. Ogarte, Assistant Vice President for Research, Innovation, Extension, and Sustainability; and Dr. Anna Loretta C. Romulo, Dean of the College of Computer Studies.
The feat not only marks a major milestone for NCF but also solidifies the institution’s growing stature as a regional powerhouse for artificial intelligence, sustainable innovation, and global academic excellence.