SUMMIT
UVM_CEMS_SUMMIT_fall2015
UVM_CEMS_SUMMIT_fall2015
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HACKATHON<br />
Brings Software Engineers and Students Together<br />
By Amanda Kenyon Waite<br />
With “Eye of the Tiger” blaring, their fists pumping and cheers<br />
erupting, a team of students jogs into the final round of the<br />
competition.<br />
No, this isn’t a basketball game, and we’re not at Patrick Gym.<br />
It’s a Saturday night at Votey Hall, and 70 students have<br />
gathered for a hackathon.<br />
While the skills on display at the coding competition haven’t<br />
necessarily been athletic in nature, endurance has certainly<br />
played a role. For 12 hours, following four hours the night<br />
before, the eight teams have been working against each other<br />
and against the clock, developing apps with an aim to improve<br />
student life at UVM. The students are weary, but the energy is<br />
high now that it’s time to show their work to their classmates<br />
and competitors — and to their judges.<br />
A dozen software engineers from State Street, an international<br />
financial services institution headquartered in Boston, have<br />
traveled to Burlington to host the event. In partnership with<br />
UVM staff, they judged the event, and coached the students all<br />
day -- looking for talent to recruit in the process. A number of<br />
UVM students in recent years have gone on to intern and fill<br />
full-time positions at the company.<br />
What did the students create? An “impressive” range of apps,<br />
according to the judges. The “Eye of the Tiger” team’s entrance<br />
was a nod to the athletic theme of their app, designed to track<br />
availability of equipment at the fitness center. Another group<br />
created a site where students can post their reviews of UVM<br />
classes, providing helpful information during class registration<br />
time. A third group conceived of an app that could help<br />
organize carpools to the mountains during ski season.<br />
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