OwlHacks, a Temple student-run hackathon, will kick off at 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning for 30 hours of competition, fun activities and community building. Students will work on projects across five challenge tracks: FinTech, Smart Health, Urban Tech, Inclusive Education and Cybersecurity. Participants can work individually or in small teams to design and develop technology solutions aligned with these challenge areas.
“Students organize every aspect of the hackathon, from securing sponsors to planning the event. However, there are many surprising challenges that students face in this process,” said Stephen MacNeil, a professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences. “In my role as faculty advisor, I have opportunities to incorporate concepts from user experience and service design to help students develop strategies to solve the problems they face. Students learn to be more proactive and self-directed. They also develop numerous leadership skills that are required to host a large event like this one.”
In previous years, OwlHacks projects have ranged from machine learning models that analyze video data to ensure proper exercise form to a gamified mobile app—similar to Pokémon Go—that motivates users to recycle by evolving "trash critters" when users take photos of themselves recycling. Nearly 500 participants are registered, including students from more than 20 schools, including Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania and Boston College.
A traditional hackathon consists of a coding competition where attendees build projects over a period of time. The focus is typically on developing and showcasing technical skills. OwlHacks is also a community-building event, which include guest speakers addressing topics such as mental health, neurodiversity and inclusion, as well as workshops and activities that can engage non-computer science students. Taking place in the Science Education and Research Center lobby, OwlHacks will also include midnight movie activities and fun games to keep participants engaged from morning till night till morning.
Sponsors for OwlHacks include InfraSource, Penn Mutual, SAP, Stand Out Stickers, and Major League Hacking.
Learn more about OwlHacks.