Campus & Community

Stevens Venture Center Hackathon Focuses on Coping With College Life

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Stevens Venture Center Hackthon Students
Stevens Venture Center Hackathon student participants show their event certificates. (left to right): Bruno Salgado, Diana Galarza and Jade Lacoste.

Stevens freshman and sophomores work together on the issues and difficulties experienced by college students.

The Stevens Venture Center (SVC) recently held its third “Venture Hacks” hackathon, bringing together 27 students to brainstorm and work in teams to develop technological solutions to real-world problems. The theme of this session, which ran from February 17-19, was “Coping with College” and the participants –all freshman and sophomores – focused on the issues and difficulties experienced by college students.

SVC Hackathon students (left to right): Tarik Kdiry, Anand Patel, Dhru Patel and Austin RochaSVC Hackathon students (left to right): Tarik Kdiry, Anand Patel, Dhru Patel and 

The students formed eight teams at an opening Friday evening brainstorming session, then worked diligently on Saturday and Sunday, brushing up their skills in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Firebase along the way so they could work on creating digital applications.

SVC Hackathon students (left to right):Mark Freeman, Justin Trugman, Tyler Bryk and Zachary HacklanderSVC Hackathon students (left to right):Mark Freeman, Justin Trugman, Tyler Bryk and Zachary Hacklander.

Besides identifying and proposing solutions to problems, the students were also charged with developing a presentation and a demonstration of their app. These were presented at the culmination of the hackathon, a celebratory dinner and pitch competition, with Venture Center entrepreneurs-in-residence serving as judges.

SVC Hackathon students (left to right): Zmininy Hnaung, Jrawen He and Tiambo TomSVC Hackathon students (left to right): Zmininy Hnaung, Jrawen He and Tiambo Tom.

Awards were presented for creativity and innovation, technical proficiency and entrepreneurship. A crowd favorite was chosen based on audience judging.

The Stevens Venture Center (SVC) provides a dynamic, collaborative environment where selected entrepreneurs can develop promising concepts and technologies into thriving businesses. It nurtures Stevens-affiliated entrepreneurs with technology support, opportunities to share best practices and experiences, networking with resources such as legal and accounting experts and investors, and education in building a successful business. The SVC provides the infrastructure, resources, training and support to bring entrepreneurial dreams closer to reality.