Hamza Kyamanywa

I believe I deserve this award because I have turned challenges I experienced as an African student in Korea into practical tools that now serve others. I came to Korea from Uganda in 2018 through the Global Korea Scholarship, learned Korean, earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from Korea University, built a career in AI, and founded HoverNotes.

HoverNotes grew from my struggle to learn from recorded lectures during COVID-19. It watches lectures and course videos with the learner and creates useful notes in real time, allowing students to focus on understanding instead of racing to transcribe every word. It is especially valuable to international students studying in a second language, whether they are in Korea or anywhere else in the world.

As a bootstrapped founder, I built and operate the product myself with AI-assisted workflows, demonstrating that an African technologist in Korea can create globally useful educational software without a large team or outside capital.