Spring Hackathon 2023 Results

Jack Norris

Hackathon participants listening to instructions at the start of the event.

More than 130 students spent 24 hours participating in the recent Spring 2023 Hackathon, a programming contest hosted by the ACM student organization. The 24-hour contest took place overnight from March 31 to April 1.

ACM provided food, drinks and prizes to Hackathon participants, thanks to monetary and logistical support from SupplyPike, Metova, ArcBest, J.B. Hunt and the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering at the U of A.

Students competed individually or on one of the 30 different teams to build a project that focused on reducing carbon emissions, recycling, renewable energy, efficient energy or other innovative solutions that can help protect the environment. The contest kicked off at 5:30 p.m. March 31 and continued past 7 p.m. the following evening, with many teams staying up all night to work on their projects.

The winning team, called "Team," was made up of Ben Burdess, a mechanical engineering student; Ryan Parker, an electrical engineering student; Joshua Hollis, a computer engineering student; and William Hutchinson, an electrical engineering student. Their project consisted of an innovative suite of sensors and incentives to encourage sustainable and energy efficient driving.

In addition to the first place award, prizes were handed out to the team that was most aligned with the theme and the team that had the best technical implementation. Other students went home with door prizes ranging from gift cards to computer monitors to Nintendo Switch consoles.

Second place went to "PalsImplementingMarioProgramS," which was made up of Gabe Garcia, Zachary Harris, Abraham Mitchell, Marvin Violantes, Santiago Dorado and Katarina Humbert.

Third place went to "Hackastars," consisting of Arian Baishya, Carson Jefferies, Theavan Saitang, Gael Bryce and Phillip Drake . All students on the first and second place teams are in the Computer Science and Computer Engineering Department.

"Looking at all the ideas and creativity flowing during the Hackathon was really awesome, and I am really excited to see how we progress in the future," said ACM officer Alex Prosser.

Officer Elijah Helf shared the sentiment.

"The Hackathon brought together brilliant minds and innovative ideas, resulting in a showcase of creativity and teamwork. It was inspiring to witness the collaborative efforts and see the amazing solutions that were created in such a short amount of time. The success of this hackathon is a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential for technology to drive positive change," Helf commented.

This Hackathon had the largest turnout this group of seniors has seen. As the Hackathon continues to gain traction and support, student leaders are excited to see the event grow.

"Compared to previous years, we had double the participants, quadruple the sponsors and over triple the number of judges we typically have for the event," said ACM President Jack Norris.

"It sure had its stressful and hectic moments, but what is a Hackathon without those?" Joked senior officer Sam Starke.

Officer Natalie Friede agreed, "The Hackathon proved to be a major success, despite facing several challenges throughout the planning and execution stages."

The large amount of participation didn't overwhelm the organizers, though. They persevered and put on an event that everyone enjoyed.

Norris said, "from the feedback we got, students had a blast — if this is any indication of things to come for the event, I'm excited!"

Future Hackathon events will be hosted by ACM and advertised by the College of Engineering. All U of A and surrounding high school students are invited to participate.