UPDATED: Feb. 17, 2020 at 1:04 p.m.

More than 100 students from around the northeast built apps, websites and hardware at Syracuse University’s third-annual hackathon this weekend.

This year’s CuseHacks, which SU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science sponsored alongside tech companies like IBM and Google, took place in the Life Sciences Complex atrium. Students competed for 24 hours on coding projects for a chance to win prizes such as keyboards and smart speakers.

Students worked from Saturday morning into Sunday, taking short breaks to attend workshops which IBM and Google sponsored. Participants also competed in a Super Smash Bros. tournament and a cup-stacking competition.

The event has been growing substantially since the first hackathon in 2018, said Caitlin Sanders, a junior at SU.

“Last year, we had 10 teams participating. This year, we have 20,” Sanders said. “It certainly keeps the volunteers and judges busy, but that just adds to the fun and excitement of CuseHacks.”

Participants crowded around long tables as volunteers and sponsors worked closely with them to ensure they were advancing through their projects. Many of the competitors had never been part of a hackathon before.

“It was a bit confusing getting started, but we were driven from the beginning,” said Kyra Thomas, a junior studying engineering and computer science. “The time limit motivates us to work harder than we ever have before.”

Thomas and her team members took home the award for best education, diversity, or inclusion hack with their app InfoBytes, which enables users to scan the barcode of food products so they can see what ingredients and allergens they contain.

Maxwell Bockmann, a junior in the computer science program, said CuseHacks gives students the opportunity to creatively apply classroom knowledge. Classes focus more on theory, Bockmann said, and hackathons give students the opportunity to take what they’ve learned and do something fun, he said.

Sanders said she hopes next year’s CuseHacks draws even more teams. The event is more about learning than the actual physical results competitors produce, she said.

“We want everyone to know that you don’t need to know anything about coding to be involved in CuseHacks,” Sanders said. “All types of students are welcome here. This is a learning space. Learning is much more important to us than the finished product.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Kyra Thomas’ year was misstated. She’s a junior. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on February 16, 2020 at 9:32 pm