Student leaders within the Computer Science Club are organizing St. Cloud State University’s first hack-a-thon Huskies Hack March 21-22 in the Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility (ISELF).
A hack-a-thon is a 24 hour event where teams have 24 hours to identify a problem, design a solution and present their solution to judges. Teams can use any technology they want to develop their solution by creating an app, building a website or using some other method to solve the problem.
Students from all majors are invited to register by March 15.
Participants will work in teams of four to five students, and the event is open to students of any major.
This isn’t just an event for computer science majors because the skills needed include problem identification, marketing of the solution and good presentation skills, said Prashul Shrestha, Computer Science Club president.
The theme of Huskies Hack is Connection. Teams will be encouraged to choose a problem related to connections between people, but any problem will be allowed as long as the team sees it as something that needs to be solved, Shrestha said.
“It is important to bring that team dynamic together to distribute tasks because it is a very limited time,” Shrestha said. “The goal is for students to leverage their new tools and technologies and also to unleash their own creativity, innovation and potential.”
Judging will be done by Computer Science Club adviser Dr. Maninder Singh and representatives from Huskies Hack sponsors GeoCOMM and RBC Wealth Management.
The event is being organized by Computer Science Club officers who are modeling the event after Huskies Invent.
Just like in Huskies Invent, the judges will also serve as mentors throughout the event. Club members are also inviting alumni and upper-level students who have participated in hack-a-thons elsewhere to act as mentors during the event.
This team-based, time-limited style of event is a good opportunity for students to practice the soft skills that employers look for because they require good communication, time management, problem identification, and critical thinking and presentation skills, Shrestha said.
Huskies Hack will help students to see the potential they have inside to rise up to challenges they will face once they are on the job while also seeing how they can apply what they’ve been learning in their classes, he said.
“Our vision for the event is to provide an opportunity for St. Cloud students to encourage them to apply what they learn, integrate new skills, and unleash their full potential, creativity and innovation,” Shrestha said.
