Coding Up a Storm at the University of Maryland

The opportunity to create new and clever programs alongside professional and collegiate computer scientists inspired 16 NCS Upper School students to give up nearly all of a November weekend and take part in the Technica "hackathon" at the University of Maryland.
 
Over 24 hours, the students tested their tech skills and teamed with graphic designers, project managers, and expert coders. They built a variety of applications and interfaces. They also got some on-the-fly career guidance.
 
Oh, and have we mentioned that everyone they teamed with at Technica were women? In fact, with some 800 participants, it was the biggest all-woman hackathon ever.
 
Hackathons are becoming a popular activity among computer scientists, providing opportunities for collaboration and learning from peers in the process of building something interesting and new.
 
Technica, held Nov. 5-6, distinguished itself from most hackathons by focusing particularly on drawing more young women into computer development. It also encouraged professionals from dozens of sponsoring companies to work alongside the students—thereby giving the younger participants more insight into career options. This year's sponsors included corporations such as Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin and JPMorgan Chase; media companies including Facebook, the New York Times, and Bloomberg; and even the U.S. Department of Justice.
 
The NCS participants were Elena Arvanitis '19, India Bhalla-Ladd '17, Molly Brigham '19, Lauren Carl '19, McKenna Dunbar '19, Anika Jones '19, Abigail Kong '19, Nikki Krisztinicz '17, Sandra Mauro '19, Bota Saudabayeva '18, Delina Sheth '18, Katie Skoff '18, Julia Stavreva '17, Zahra Thabet '18, Giuliana Weiss '19, and Michelle Zhu '17.
 
U-Md. students, professional programmers, and software developers teamed with students to code apps, hardware, and their own websites for play and serious purpose. From playing in virtual reality to identifying how to code cybersecurity solutions alongside experts in the field, NCS students were exposed to a gamut of insider tech practices and skills.
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    • The hackathon involved a variety of operating systems, including iOS programming.

    • Most of the NCS participants in Technica.

    • NCS students are ready for some Technica instruction.

    • Because the hackathon lasted 24 hours, students came ready to work all night long.

    • Collaboration was the name of the game at Technica.