TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Hackers, innovators, and creators from across the southeast will come together to compete in the second annual CrimsonHacks 24-hour hackathon.
This year’s competition will take place on April 14-15 in the Ferguson Center Ballroom. CrimsonHacks is a full-day hacking marathon where students use coding skills to build something new whether it be a game, an application, a robot or any other unique project they choose.
Organizers expect 200 college students from 20 schools to compete with skills ranging from beginner to advanced.
“We have people with elementary coding skills up to people who have been doing hackathons for years,” said Helmi Henkin, CrimsonHacks marketing director and senior psychology and French major from Menlo Park, California. “This lets the newer hackers work with the senior hackers and learn more than they would working solely with other new hackers.”
CrimsonHacks was created to be a more accessible hackathon for UA students and other nearby schools. Last year it became the first Major League Hacking, or MLH, sponsored event in Alabama.
At the end of the 24-hour competition, each project will be demonstrated and judges will determine the winners of each prize category.
“Our first year was a huge success and we hope to build upon that with new tech talk, games and prizes to make this year even better than the last,” Henkin said.
The opening ceremony will be at 10:15 a.m. April 14. The competition begins at 1 p.m. April 14, and will end at 1 p.m. April 15. The closing ceremony will be at 2:30 p.m. April 15. For more information, visit crimsonhacks.com.
This year’s CrimsonHacks Executive Board includes these computer science students:
Bailey McIntosh – executive director and sophomore also majoring in studio art (digital media) from Cumming, Georgia
Erika Pope – operations director and senior on the STEM Path to MBA from Burleson, Texas
Alex Luong – finance director and sophomore from Vietnam
Joey Murphy – logistics director and senior from Chicago
Kendron Abbot – user experience director and sophomore from Palm Coast, Florida
Kassidy Webb – sponsorship director and sophomore computer engineering major on the STEM Path to MBA from St. Louis
Avery McCray – sponsorship director and sophomore computer engineering major from Millbrook