On Friday, September 20th through Saturday the 21st, the 2019 SBUHacks 24-hour hackathon event took place in the Frank Melville Jr., Memorial Library. With more than 375 attendees, the hackathon built on the success of last year’s debut event. Students came from across the United States (including Chicago, California and Boston) and there were even students visiting from other countries such as Canada, Egypt and India!
SBUHacks is a hackathon where students are challenged to expand their knowledge by working on projects they are passionate about. Attendees work with fellow students to create something unforgettable. And, the best part is that it takes place right here at Stony Brook University.
The word “hackathon” has become a buzzword in the computer science world, but what exactly is a hackathon? A hackathon is an “invention marathon.” Anyone who has an interest in technology can attend a hackathon to learn, build and share their creations. The space to hack these projects is a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere where anyone can attend. You don’t have to be a programmer, and you certainly don’t have to be majoring in Computer Science, despite what most people may think.
“As tomorrow's global citizens, students are coming into higher education with the mentality of ‘learning by creating,’ some of them coming with sophisticated entrepreneurial ideas. University Libraries, as the academic hub on campus, seeks to foster and encourage our students' creativity and innovativeness with tools, resources, services, events and other activities,” said Shafeek Fazal, Interim Dean of University Libraries. “SBUHacks, now an annual popular trending event, is another one of these activities. We are very thrilled to have collaborated with all our partners in hosting another successful hackathon and look forward to future ones as we continue to empower our students, of all disciplines, to new levels of discovery.”
SBUHacks presented a plethora of challenges for its attendees to solve. With hacks including Security, Artificial Intelligence, Health and even a Funniest Hack, there was something for everyone to do! There was also a Best Beginner Hack challenge that encouraged newcomers in the hackathon scene to push their boundaries and try something new and innovative without the restrictions of more difficult hacks/challenges. Click here for a list of the winning hacks.
Beyond a platform of innovation for hackers, SBUHacks also inspired a creative innovation from its student organizers. Two of SBUHack’s organizers created a Web service that was deployed at SBUHacks for the first time. The service, called HackerMatcher, aims to help hackers find each other to create hackathon teams based on their similar skills and interests. HackerMatcher achieved great success by helping 70 hackers form teams. What started as a hackathon project developed into something useful, and its creators are working hard to make the service bigger and better.
“Classrooms are the places where we gain the base knowledge necessary for us to go out into the world,” said Rahul Sondhi, SBUHacks Founder and Chair. “However, events like SBUHacks are where we put the knowledge we cultivated to the test and apply it to actual real life problems and scenarios. No other place like these hackathons watch and guide you while you tackle a problem by using your own instinct, creativity and drive.”
SBUHacks’ student organizers believe that events like this are getting bigger and gaining more popularity because they represent a new mindset among students and educators that students can also learn valuable lessons beyond the classroom. This mindset is what’s pushing students to delve more into what they can do with their knowledge than just passing a test. Hackathons, like SBUHacks, are incubators for this type of thinking and help create projects that have the possibility of spawning world-changing ideas and/or creating huge companies like GroupMe.
Hackathons are commonly supported by company sponsors and SBUHacks had many big names supporting the event, including Softheon, Broadridge, BNY Mellon, Facebook, Applied Visions and Supply House. Besides providing the hackathon with funding, these sponsors hosted tech talks, mentored students, assisted in the preparation for the event, and much more. Students also had the opportunity to network with these great companies, to speak about potential career opportunities in the future. SBUHacks sponsors were provided with a resume book of all students who opted in for this option while applying for the event.
SBUHacks was also supported by Major League Hacking (MLH). MLH (co-founded by Stony Brook alum, Jonathan Gottfried) is an organization that prides itself in assisting colleges and universities worldwide with setting up hackathons. They provide materials, guidance and even send in their own mentors to help the hackathon organizers to make sure the event goes smoothly.
A big part of hackathon culture is the swag given away during the event. SBUHacks offered a variety of stickers, drawstring bags, notebooks, water bottles, t-shirts and so much more! Event sponsors also gave away gear, as well. And, let’s not forget another great perk: Food! Besides breakfast, lunch and dinner, SBUHacks also provided Buffalo Wild Wings as a midnight snack and had plenty chips, cookies, candy and other snacks throughout the event. Of course, there were also many caffeinated drinks available to keep the ambitious students going through the night.
The closing hour of SBUHacks 2019 saw a surprise visit by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. Bellone took a tour of the final projects during the judging period and spoke with several students about their hacks. He then assisted with the award ceremony and took photos with the winners. “The Stony Brook University SBUHacks event is an outstanding way for our best and brightest to test out their skills and challenge boundaries,” said County Executive Bellone. “I want to congratulate all the participating students and encourage our students to keep building and sharing their innovative creations.” Everyone involved with this event would like to express their gratitude for the County Executive’s time and his genuine interest and support of our student inventors.
SBUHacks was a great success due to the support and hard work of numerous people and organizations. SBUHacks’ organizers expressed much gratitude to the students, student organizations (Stony Brook Computing Society, Chinese Association at Stony Brook, Theta Tau, CDT, Women in Computer Science, Stony Brook Robotics Team and Kappa Phi Lambda), alumni, faculty, staff, administration (Josh Weil of the Department of Computer Science, the Stony Brook Career Center, Dean Fotis Sotiropoulos and Kelly Dowling of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, SBU Libraries and the Alumni Association) and, of course, the sponsors (Softheon, BYN Mellon, Broadridge, Applied Visions, MLH, SupplyHouse.com, Facebook, GitHub and Stickermule). Everyone involved helped this 24-hour hackathon stay on track and run as smoothly as possible.
About the Authors
Rahul Sondhi is a senior pursuing a BS in Computer Science and an MBA in Business Administration. He is the president of the Stony Brook Computing Society and founder of SBUHacks. His interests include startup culture, photography, video games and stocks.
Taha Ahmed is a senior majoring in economics. He is interested in the Computer Science field and has knowledge of languages such as R and STATA. His interests include gaming and hanging out with friends.
Jenny Xu is a junior in the Department of Computer Science. She is the developer, with Anthony Xiang (an Applied Mathematics and Statistics/Computer Science double major), of the HackerMatcher app. Her interests include artificial intelligence and Web development.
For a complete selection of photos and videos from SBUHacks 2019, please visit our SBUHacks 2019 Public Album.