Solving real world problems at TroyHack

Oluwaseun Omotayo Students were given the chance to battle with code and solve real-world problems at Troy University’s first TroyHack, held over the weekend. “A hackathon is a coding competition where students can create and innovate while learning through the workshops available,” said Boluwarin Dairo, a senior computer science major from Ibadan, Nigeria. “It is also an avenue to win cool prizes and network with future employers.” The event accepted applications from all students regardless of their majors or classification. More than 140 students participated in the event. Hackers were given a challenge to solve a business problem, allowing contestants wiggle room to flex their creative muscles. They had to submit projects before 10 a.m. on Sunday. There were various workshops available to give the participants a break. “The topic of the first workshop was building your first website,” saidAkorede Olumodimu, a sophomore computer science major from Lagos, Nigeria. “The event was a memorable one that impacted me positively.” Most of the workshops were for beginners with little to no knowledge of programming, but the event also featured a Super Smash Bros. tournament, yoga and karaoke. Judges narrowed down 14 projects to five finalists, giving the five teams time to present ideas before the entire event audience. Trojan ResCues won a challenge to use technology to help the community using motion detectors to figure out when a person is in distress and send a drone to help. This project can be used during wildfires or natural disasters. iBlink, programming that enables typing with the eyes, took first place. Lookout, an app to filter spam emails, took second place and the Market, which connects farm producers to consumers, secured third place. “Organizing the hackathon is one of my greatest college achievements, and I cannot wait to wear my organizer hoodie to graduation,” said David Ajao, a senior computer science major from Lagos, Nigeria. “The event was a successful one and amazing prizes were given.” “There was a great environment to work on a project, meet new friends, as well as mentors from different tech companies,” said Pradip Dhakal, a senior computer science and mathematics major from Pokhara, Nepal, and a member of the iBlink team.