Hey Huskies! Are you someone who’s interested in problem solving using technology or wanting to get involved on campus? Head on over to this year’s tenth annual UWB Hacks happening Friday, April 24 to Sunday, April 26. This is a multiday event held in the middle of the Spring quarter hosted by one of UW Bothell’s most popular organizations, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Here’s how it works: students form a team with peers to finish a project from start to finish. Your team will have to help craft a project surrounding the year’s theme. The method to create is entirely up to students, as UWB Hacks encourages participants to get creative, practice one’s coding and problem-solving in a team. According to ACM President Jonah Uellenberg, students can also benefit from adding their projects to their resume. This year’s tenth annual UWB Hacks theme is titled “Hack the Future,” which is about creating something that pushes us to “build what comes next,” creating a positive impact on the the future… Themes from previous years include, “Save the World” and “Hacks AI.”
Prior to the Hackathon, students have the opportunity to attend events from the Week of Hacking, a series of workshops that prepare students to create and present their project. These workshops have had both technical and nontechnical aspects in past Hackathons. UWB Hacks has been tailored for students who are also in other majors besides Computer Science or Applied Computing. A no-code track will be offered this year. Uellenberg encourages “students from technical and non-technical majors to team up – after all that’s how things work in the real-world, and is a great way to play to each other’s individual strengths!”
While ACM is the main host of this year’s event, many other clubs and organizations will be involved both on and off campus. ACM-W, Bothell Consulting Association (BCA), Trickfire Robotics and Grayhatsare some clubs that will be collaborating.. ACM will also work directly with university departments including Club Council, SEA, Division of Advancement, and the School of STEM.
400 students are expected to attend this year’s hackathon, an increase from last year’s event. 80-100 tech industry professionals are also expected to attend as judges, mentors and guests, giving students the opportunity to network. In fact, a winner from last year got an amazing internship opportunity through the connections they made at the event.
Uellenberg states “there’s only so much you can learn in your classes before you have to go out and apply it directly, and that’s what hackathon’s all about.” He ends with saying it’s a “great opportunity to go out and build your own project, something you’re really passionate about and might want to keep working on after the fact.”
Students can register for the Hackathon here: https://uwbhacks.com/apply. More information regarding the event can be found on their main webpage: https://www.uwbhacks.com/. What are you waiting for? Register now!
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