Dan Nguyen, center, raises his 3D printer during HackUTA on Oct. 8 at the Science Engineering and Innovation Research Building. The team Moist Meter won first place overall.
Despite having worked the past 24 hours, HackUTA participants were still buzzing with energy as they filled the Science Engineering and Innovation Research Building to see the winners announced.
A hackathon is a competition where teams of up to four compete to design, develop and pitch a tech project within 24 hours. The 2023 HackUTA winner was the project Moist Meter ⸺ a project that combined sensors and software to detect moisture in someone’s house to predict the likelihood of mold growth.
There were 484 participants that came from all over the country, from the University of Texas at Dallas to Oregon State University. There were over 100 more participants this year than the previous year.
Students code during HackUTA on Oct. 7 at the Social Work and Smart Hospital Building. Students from all over the U.S. participated in the event.
For all their hard work, Moist Meter won 3D printers. Other prizes included computer monitors, VR headsets, mini projectors, Nintendo Switches, Airpods and more.
There were many different awards at the event, ranging from big to small. There was the main award for the best program overall and the State Farm challenge, which selected projects based on a predetermined prompt.
The project Moist Meter built won both the State Farm Challenge and first place overall. The four-person team was from the University of Texas at Dallas and had some background in computer science and computer engineering.
Computer science sophomore Saul Lara grabs a HackUTA T-shirt during the event Oct. 8 at the Science Engineering and Innovation Research Building. Students were given 24 hours to design, develop and pitch a tech project.
Dan Nguyen, Moist Meter team member and UTD computer engineering major, said they were interested in combining hardware and software for their project. While it was challenging connecting the two, it paid off in the end.
The team that won second place was also from UTD and designed a program that would use AI to inform a driver of issues with their car, like low tire pressure. The users could then make a phone call and have a full conversation with AI to discuss the issue.
There were awards for best user interface and the best use of certain software, like MATLAB or Google Cloud. There were also less “computery” awards, like an Instagram raffle and a murder mystery award for the person who solved a murder mystery the quickest.
While some might imagine the event to be groups of people crouched over their computers, everyone was quite social. Muhammad Khurram, UTA computer science sophomore and member of the third-place team Pear, said his favorite part of the event was speaking with other teams.
“It was pretty fun talking with the other teams and seeing what they were making,” Khurram said.
Post-it note art decorates the windows during HackUTA on Oct. 7 at the Social Work and Smart Hospital Building. Students competed for prizes ranging from monitors, 3D printers, keyboards and more.
The Hackathon wasn’t all computers and coding. The event provided plenty of workshops, meals and mini events ⸺ from resume reviews, to midnight boba, to playing Hungry Hungry Hippos.
The hackathon also had a point system to encourage participants to step away from their screens for a bit and attend an event or workshop. This seemed to be quite effective, with one workshop having nearly 70 people in attendance, said Saja Hussein, software engineering junior and co-executive director of HackUTA.
Participants could then exchange these points for small prizes like plushies and energy drinks.
Trevor Reigh, history junior and co-executive director of HackUTA, said that Hackathons can be very dry and competitive, and HackUTA wants to be the opposite.
Andrew Melbourne, University of Texas at Dallas computer science senior, laughs with his team during HackUTA on Oct. 8 at the Science Engineering and Innovation Research Building. The team, Moist Meter, won the State Farm challenge.
“We focus more on inclusivity and the fun aspect of it rather than just trying to make a project and win,” Reigh said.
These competitions aren’t really about the competition, he said. It’s about learning practical skills that can be used day to day in a software engineering job which often aren’t taught in university programs.
For people interested in attending these events, much of the advice from the competitors and organizers was to go for it and not worry about having enough experience.
“Don’t be scared to try anything new. Take that impostor syndrome out of your brain, and just do it,” Hussien said.
@bradfordhudd
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