Dartmouth's Annual Student-Run Hackathon: HackDartmouth

Dartmouth's annual student-run Hackathon is an on-campus event in which students form teams to create and develop innovative software and hardware projects. HackDartmouth attracts hundreds of the best hackers from the New England area as well as Canada and provides a 24-hour opportunity to showcase their talents.

HackDartmouth continues to grow its presence both on campus and in the New England area generally. This year represented an unprecedented level of engagement; we had teams travel from schools like McGill, MIT, Boston University, and New York University.

The event had close to 40 project submissions, ranging from applications focused on environmental sustainability to programmed Amazon Alexas that "rapped" their responses. The winner of the event was a team that developed "Hear: Podcasts Made Accessible," which translated podcasts to text and included options for additional reading and resources as the podcast played.

Participants started their projects on April 6th and submitted a completed product on April 7th, many of them continuing to work throughout the night with little to no sleep. The 24-hour deadline encourages fast-paced problem solving and fosters continuous excitement and engagement.

Ideas started at Hackathons can often become projects that are continued long afterward, developed and improved over time. HackDartmouth is only in its fifth year, but continues to establish Dartmouth's role in the technology space and encourage innovation in a team-oriented setting. Beyond the technical aspect of the event, participants are able to learn to build on ideas, see a project through implementation, and collaborate throughout the process.

-Submitted by Lillian Jin '19, Rockefeller Center Mini Grant Recipient 

The Rockefeller Center's Mini-Grants program funds registration fees for students attending conferences, as well as the costs of bringing guest speakers to Dartmouth. The views and opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Rockefeller Center or constitute an endorsement by the Center.