Hackathon 2024

The Hackathon: An Informatics competition exploring topics of equity

Date: 5-1-24

Writer: Rowan Santos

With the rise of students interest in computer science, various events have taken place. On April 5, the Informatics School at the University of Washington held the Hackathon event. The UW Informatics School forged this event to establish the possibilities of an informatics career. It truly showed how equity is a crucial component of informatics.

Together with teams, individuals choose a prominent adversity and work to combat the issue. Topics vary from gender inequality to education and corruption. Individuals had an hour and thirty minutes to forge an artificial intelligence-based solution to these problems. Each group had an informatics mentor who guided them through the process. Those who attended learned how to create positive social impact through informatics. This was the main event and was structured effectively, keeping individuals engaged.

Another highlight of the event was the guest speakers. Individuals at the UW Informatics School shared their passion for informatics. You truly learn how diverse informatics careers are, and there are vast opportunities you can pursue within the informatics realm. They also shared various groups associated with the Informatics school, including subgroups for women, Asians, black, queer, and Muslim students. It was astounding to see their electric passion for informatics, and it was a pleasure to learn about the diversity within this broad major. 

A group from Auburn Mountainview and three students emerged victorious from the competition event. The winning students were Samuel Chan, Prableen Kaur, and Rowan Santos. They forged an app model that encouraged diversity within professional fields. 

All in all, the UW Informatics event informed individuals about the diversity of informatics while also engaging students in equity in the informatics field.