Students across the nation will assemble this weekend for A&M’s third annual hackathon — a 24-hour competition integrating coding, networking and teamwork.
TAMUhack is an event during which hundreds of developers meet to engage in collaborative computer programming. This event brings together student programmers and hackers from across the country to share in their passion and creativity through programming technology. With more than 700 students from 12 universities, TAMUhack is expected to be the largest hackathon in A&M history.
Himank Yadav, computer science senior and vice president of TAMUhack, said this year’s event will bring together more tech-savvy and creative students than ever before.
“It is an amazing atmosphere for students to get together from across  the country to be able to create something meaningful in a short time span of 24 hours, while having loads of fun and receiving tremendous help and support,” Yadav said. “We’ve seen great results in the past two iterations and I could not be more excited about the biggest and best iteration happening this weekend.”
Sahil Dhanju, computer science senior and president of TAMUhack, said the focus of this hackathon, in contrast of other similar events, is that it is much more general in nature. The students are free to work on projects of their own choosing.
“You can build actually whatever you want, using whatever you want,” Dhanju said. “During the event there will be different sponsors, like Google, that will be giving out prizes to the best hack made with their API. But the students’ focus can be whatever they want.”
Harrison Froeschke, computer science senior and a participant this weekend, said he is excited for the learning opportunity he expects to get during TAMUhack.
“I think it helps everyone, because it puts them in a situation where they have a limited amount — a deadline — to put something down that’s a finished product,” Froeschke said. “I think it’s a great environment to learn how to work in a team, learn how to lead and learn how to develop your skills.”
Although applications have closed, walk-in participants will be accepted based on open spots. Doors open at 9 a.m. on Saturday in the MSC. The competition will end 5 p.m. Sunday. The hacking begins at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and ends 24 hours later.