TAMUhack offers an opportunity for students to come together for 24 hours of coding, teamwork and new experiences.
The fifth annual hackathon was held in the Memorial Student Center on Jan. 26 through 27. As computers play an increasingly prominent role across all fields, computer science senior and TAMUhack president Muin Momin said hackathons bring people together to do something fun, creative and useful.
“The best way to describe a hackathon is a 24-hour invention marathon,” Momin said. “Students form teams of four and they just work on any technical project they want. They can build an app, a website, a robotic arm… They just put a bunch of technologies together and create it.”
Sponsors are an integral part of the continued success of TAMUhack. In addition to helping fund the event, some sponsors have representatives available to consult with students and conduct interviews on the spot.
Josue Martinez, senior program manager at Microsoft, said these types of events are ideal for students to get acquainted with major companies and gain a more in-depth understanding of their work.
“It is not just an opportunity for us to have conversations with the students about the technology that we are building and what we are doing, but also for students to get to know us,” Martinez said. “We are a large corporation. We are a big name, and not everybody knows what we do or why we do it or what we are passionate about.”
One trio at this year’s hackathon – engineering freshmen Shion Ito, Anh Hoang and Hanh Nguyen – worked on an app that can identify a skin disease through a picture, assessing the symptoms and recommending a proper treatment.
Hoang said that although he and his teammates are young and new to the industry, the event was a great way to get their feet wet.
“I think it’s a great start for all of us,” Hoang said. “TAMUhack specifically said that anyone can join, even if we are first-timers, because there are going to be workshops, and those who didn’t have team members can create their own team. They are creating an opportunity for all of us. Equal chances to work together and do something.”