Ohio State’s 24-hour hackathon inspires creativity, tests stamina

HackOHI/O 2017, The Ohio State University’s fifth annual 24-hour hackathon, is the reason more than 600 students will innovate around the clock in the Ohio Union Oct. 21-22.

Hackathons are technical project marathons where student teams go from idea to prototype in a single weekend, solving a problem or meeting a need in the marketplace. HackOHI/O is the largest in the state.

Students from Ohio State and other Midwest schools will converge on Columbus to spend the weekend building exciting technology projects. After 24 hours of “hacking,” the teams at HackOHI/O will present their ideas to fellow students, faculty and tech company representatives. Teams will be judged on categories including technical difficulty, creativity, usefulness and presentation.

Dozens of industry professionals interested in the talent and technology on display also are expected to attend the final showcase on Sunday, Oct. 22, when more than $6,000 in prizes will be awarded to the most innovative projects. The showcase is open to the public.

HackOHI/O 2017 is sponsored by Harris Corporation, JP Morgan Chase, Teradata, Capital One, Facebook, Nationwide Insurance and Microsoft, amongst others. Sponsors have the opportunity to pitch problem statements as challenges to student teams, such as:

• Teradata, in conjunction with Cisco and Qlik, is issuing a Smart City challenge addressing job accessibility, smart mobility and connecting visitors to Columbus.
• The Ohio affiliate of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing awards program is issuing a challenge for the best app to aid job seekers negotiating a starting salary by showing the prevailing wage for specific positions in specific locations.