cs 

UA hosts second annual hackathon

By Gillian Castro and Alana Norris

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

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s College of Engineering has more than 5,200 students and more than 170 faculty. In recent years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater, Hollings, Portz, Boren, Mitchell and Truman scholars.


Author: Gillian Castro and Alana Norris    /    Posted on: April 11, 2018    /    Posted in:   Computer Science, Events, Outreach, Students