On February 27th, about 20 Notre Dame students boarded a bus headed towards the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. This group consisted of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering majors heading to a hackathon hosted by the U of I and what has been called the “biggest hardware hackathon in the midwest.”
Hackathons are quickly becoming an important part of programming culture. These events present a chance for programmers from various backgrounds to come together for a weekend and create a demonstrable product in just a few days. This not only offers many the chance to build a startup in that weekend, but also give potential employers a look at what these young men and women can do. Hackers, as has become a popular term for those who participate in hackathons, painstakingly work for 36 hours on their app or website idea in the hopes that it will show off the skills that they have honed in their studies and free time.
Among those who attended the event were many first-year students. Three of them came together and made an app that made use of the Answers API (Application Program Interface) and were rewarded for their creativity. One of the great things about hackathon events is that little interest is put into things like what classes you’ve taken and what extracurriculars you participate in, while more attention goes towards your skill set and what you are passionate about. Many hackers are given the chance to showcase what they most enjoy working on or what they have a particular talent in, and can be paired with a company or group that shares those same interests or goals. When asked about his involvement in the Illinois hackathon, freshman Royce Branning exclaimed, “I went to Hack Illinois per recommendation from Maribeth who I had gotten coffee with at the beginning of the semester. I definitely had a lot of fun at Hack Illinois, learned about the process of hackathons and a bit about iOS development.”
Royce Branning, Dan Kerrigan, and Michael Krumdick pose with their sponsors.
Freshman Dan Kerrigan, also a part of the winning first-year team, attended his second hackathon. Kerrigan was more experienced but was still getting used to iOS development when he attended Hack Illinois and still found himself able to make a successful product. Kerrigan is involved in many coding extracurriculars around campus. He often attends the Innovation Lab, located in LaFortune basement, which hosts coding workshops and sessions every Monday and Wednesday headed by seniors Sean Fitzgerald and Maribeth Rauh, and juniors Kyle Koser, Zachary Waterson, and Shuyang Li.
When asked about his hackathon experience Kerrigan wisely told all:
“My first hackathon experience was at IrishHacks this past fall and I enjoyed it. People at the Innovation Lab like Maribeth Rauh and Kyle Koser were talking about how attending HackIllinois would be an invaluable experience for learning, creating, networking, and having fun. I heard that Hack Illinois was among the biggest and best hackathons in the country, so I decided to apply. I saw HackIllinois as a chance to learn, make something cool, and connect with the other attendees. I was very impressed with Hack Illinois. The atmosphere with all of the companies and hackers was energetic and exciting. The project expo at the end of the hackathon was also really neat. It was fun to see all of the projects that the teams had worked on. It was inspiring to see how much the teams accomplished in just 36 hours. It motivated me to want to learn more so I can reach that same level. Overall, it was a great time and I can’t wait for the next hackathon.”
The event had a large host of food, with the sponsors having food workshops around the clock including an omelet bar and a segment on making nutritious meals out of ramen. Another great thing about hackathons is that they attempt to ensure that the patrons are well-fed and have plenty of energy to focus solely on hacking.
One of the main promoters of hackathons at Notre Dame is senior Maribeth Rauh, who will be working for Google Maps after graduation. She helped to arrange transportation for ND students to various Hackathons and was also the coordinator for bus transport for Hack Illinois. When asked how she was introduced to hackathons she responded, “The simple answer is [from] my cousin who is my age and also a CS major, but at Michigan. He posted on Facebook about MHacks II when I was abroad and also invited me to the MHacks III Facebook event. I sensed these events were kind of a big deal (I think I’d seen that MHacks II was in Michigan Stadium) and it looked like a lot of fun and a huge opportunity in terms of connecting with the tech community. So I think I convinced a couple friends to come, I coerced an MHacks sponsored bus to stop by ND to pick up me and two friends, and we had an incredible time. I was blown away by the energy, the atmosphere, the companies there, the hacks people built – everything. That was enough for me to be convinced more ND kids needed to go to these (and that I needed to go to more of these).”
Dan Kerrigan, Micheal Krumdick, Maribeth Rauh, and Royce Branning
Hackathons are a new and exciting trend that have become apart of programming culture. They are a great opportunity for students to gain experience, test out whatever technology they may be interested in and possibly get jobs from showcasing what they can do. Notre Dame students are getting onboard the train to what will likely be the future of career fairs for many computer science and engineering majors.
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