Hackathon Showcases Student Design and Innovation Feb. 8

Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and students from the Creative Media Development club are sponsoring this year’s Design & Dev Hackathon from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, in the Bonderson Engineering Project Center (Building 197), Room 104, on campus. 

The event kick-off and team formations will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, in the same location. 

Led by Cal Poly Graphic Communication Professor Lorraine Donegan, the event encourages students from all disciplines to pool their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to develop apps, a website or other projects that will make life better for Cal Poly and the community.

The Hackathon encourages sharing ideas and team building and gives students the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges.

This year’s Hackathon will give students more creative freedom than last year. “Participants are allowed greater freedom than they were last year in the products they develop,” said Scott Burns, Creative Media Development Club president. “Last year, one of the goals was to integrate your team product with the Evernote API, but the judging criteria this year will be more open-ended. We’re looking forward to seeing the variation in pitches this year because of the open nature of the event. 

Burns and club vice president Kevin Knopp participated in the event last year and were given the opportunity to co-host the 2014 Hackathon to provide student input and support.

Participation categories include developer/engineer, designer/UX, and marketer/idea person. Teams will work on their projects throughout the day and showcase their projects the evening of the event. An expert panel of judges will evaluate the projects and provide feedback, and prizes will be awarded to winners.

Experienced mentors will be present throughout the event to help students with different technologies for development and design. Past Hackathon events have resulted in job and internship opportunities as well as student team start-ups.

“Our hope is that the event will encourage future collaboration between the multiple disciplines and create greater exposure for an exciting and rewarding field of work,” said Burns. “With more than 100 participants, it should provide a wide range of ideas.”

Participation is free for students, but participant spots are sold out with a waiting list. A limited number of seats are available for spectators and members of the press, but registration is required.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Sponsors for the event include Rosetta, MINDBODY, iFixit, Cellotape, the College of Liberal Arts, Kennedy Library, Red Bull and JCarroll. 

For more information, contact Lorraine Donegan at 805-756-7302.