FSU Students and faculty alike worked non-stop through the weekend in a 30 hour programming marathon, all for the love of code.
On March 20th, students from all around the Southeastern region gathered at Florida State’s Dirac Research Library to participate in HackFSU, planned by TechNole. For 30 hours, students in groups of 3-4 and mentors dedicated their time to creating one of a kind coded projects with their teams. “The people participating are really going at something continually,” explained staff member Simon Baduy. “They are not trying to hack into a computer system or anything. They come up with the idea of what they want to do, it’s very open concept.”
On March 20th, students from all around the Southeastern region gathered at Florida State’s Dirac Research Library to participate in HackFSU, planned by TechNole. For 30 hours, students in groups of 3-4 and mentors dedicated their time to creating one of a kind coded projects with their teams. “The people participating are really going at something continually,” explained staff member Simon Baduy. “They are not trying to hack into a computer system or anything. They come up with the idea of what they want to do, it’s very open concept.”
Some of the gadgets featured at the hackathon. Via HackFSU. The event started off with an opening ceremony before the hackers scattered off to set up their spaces and start their hacks. Some members came with a team and a strategy, others had to scramble after opening ceremonies to meet new people and compile a team. This made for an interesting dynamic because teams included students from all around the region. Schools like University of Miami, Georgia Tech, University of Central Florida, and even University of Florida, were all represented. School pride was a theme of the 30 hours, as hackers wore sweatshirts, displayed flags and blankets at their work stations, and color coded basically everything to represent their universities.
HackFSU is still very young, created last April by Diva Hurtado and Matt O’Hagan. The two felt Florida State was in need of a strong coding community. HackFSU is now nationally known. Past hacks have had around 300 people, and have since more than doubled with up to 700 participants.
As the event kicked off there was a general excitement coming from all directions. However, as time went on, the atmosphere got gradually more intense. By the time I checked in at hour 20, I observed one participant get frustrated and essentially smash his entire project on the table while mumbling profanities under his breath. Whether it was frustration from their projects, lack of sleep, or being contained inside of a library for 30 hours, some people let this hack get to them.
The team I caught up with was compiled of 2 students from University of Florida - Rob Shaouy and Ryan Brodzinski, a Leon High School student - Max Rosenzweig, and one of our very own, CyberNole’s Alan Williams. They met each other after opening ceremonies and created their team, and immediately got to work on an idea. “At first we came up with this crazy idea, we wanted to design an app, but we found out that app was already taken,” Shaouy explained. “So we had to come up with a new idea fast. It’s just something fun that we could make, and laugh about later."
HackFSU is still very young, created last April by Diva Hurtado and Matt O’Hagan. The two felt Florida State was in need of a strong coding community. HackFSU is now nationally known. Past hacks have had around 300 people, and have since more than doubled with up to 700 participants.
As the event kicked off there was a general excitement coming from all directions. However, as time went on, the atmosphere got gradually more intense. By the time I checked in at hour 20, I observed one participant get frustrated and essentially smash his entire project on the table while mumbling profanities under his breath. Whether it was frustration from their projects, lack of sleep, or being contained inside of a library for 30 hours, some people let this hack get to them.
The team I caught up with was compiled of 2 students from University of Florida - Rob Shaouy and Ryan Brodzinski, a Leon High School student - Max Rosenzweig, and one of our very own, CyberNole’s Alan Williams. They met each other after opening ceremonies and created their team, and immediately got to work on an idea. “At first we came up with this crazy idea, we wanted to design an app, but we found out that app was already taken,” Shaouy explained. “So we had to come up with a new idea fast. It’s just something fun that we could make, and laugh about later."
The Robotica team. High school hacker Max Rosenzweig offered the breakdown of their project. “Our hack is a rap generator, we named it "Rap Artist Robotica." It takes a list of lyrics, then randomizes them into sets of 4, depending on how long you want the song to be. It plays the prerecorded lyrics with a back rhythm. Each time you generate it it might have a different beat in the background. So basically it will generate a song for you… but the lyrics don’t make sense”
For just having met, the team worked fast and efficiently together to get their project in motion, and fed off each other's energy. “We have good chemistry, I think. But none of us have enough sleep,” said Brodzinsky. By the end of the hack, the team was extremely pleased with their project overall, and agreed it was something they could be proud of. Shaouy joked that the album created by their hack was going to ‘go gold in the first 2 weeks’.
Williams spent time on other projects also, not just this hack.
For just having met, the team worked fast and efficiently together to get their project in motion, and fed off each other's energy. “We have good chemistry, I think. But none of us have enough sleep,” said Brodzinsky. By the end of the hack, the team was extremely pleased with their project overall, and agreed it was something they could be proud of. Shaouy joked that the album created by their hack was going to ‘go gold in the first 2 weeks’.
Williams spent time on other projects also, not just this hack.
Some 3D printed souvenirs from the Hackathon. From the other side: “I had a great time at HackFSU. While I didn't work on a single large hack for the time, I did a couple of small hacks. I first worked on getting NUPIC (a computing platform) working for stocks. I was able to code a stock prediction system in a couple of hours, with a couple more for debugging. After that, it was mostly another hour for the computer to build the models/run the simulation. I could maybe expand this later with a stock purchasing system to build a complete program. I also checked out an Oculus Rift. I tried to port SCP - Containment Breach for it. While I didn't finish it, it was a good start and felt like I spent my time well. This is only my second Hackathon and I loved every minute of it.”
The event had Dirac sectioned off for different types of interaction for participants to utilize. The entire library was a designated hack area, the downstairs basement was the “Quitters Zone” which acted as a sleeping haven when hackers got too edgy. The Mentor Lounge was made up of comfortable couches and bean bags where hackers could seek advice from professionals about their projects and could get a morale boost when they had self doubt.
The staff section acted as a command center with snack areas stocked heavily to keep hackers fueled through the 30 hours. Since the theme of the event was 90’s this year, there was an area students could go to decompress and play Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo 64. An extremely helpful tool offered by HackFSU was the Hacker Essentials area, where tutorials were taught to hackers, by hackers, about topics that could help them send their projects to the next level. “This event is not just meant for making something but also for learning and networking,” said Baduy.
A valuable section for HackFSU and students alike was the sponsorship area. Taking advantage of everything these sponsors had to offer was a benefit to everyone. MLH (Major League Hacking) was there to rent out hardware to hackers for use during the event. CodeSchool is an academy for coding, and was there to help with any glitches. Other sponsors include MailChimp, which facilitates sending of mass emails, Ionic Security, and Domi. Not only were they there to lend a hand during the event, but sponsors often times come to scout potential employees at these events. These projects are a great way to observe and recruit people they think might fit well with their company. Not only is this a great portfolio builder for students to be involved in, but a great networking experience as well.
The event had Dirac sectioned off for different types of interaction for participants to utilize. The entire library was a designated hack area, the downstairs basement was the “Quitters Zone” which acted as a sleeping haven when hackers got too edgy. The Mentor Lounge was made up of comfortable couches and bean bags where hackers could seek advice from professionals about their projects and could get a morale boost when they had self doubt.
The staff section acted as a command center with snack areas stocked heavily to keep hackers fueled through the 30 hours. Since the theme of the event was 90’s this year, there was an area students could go to decompress and play Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo 64. An extremely helpful tool offered by HackFSU was the Hacker Essentials area, where tutorials were taught to hackers, by hackers, about topics that could help them send their projects to the next level. “This event is not just meant for making something but also for learning and networking,” said Baduy.
A valuable section for HackFSU and students alike was the sponsorship area. Taking advantage of everything these sponsors had to offer was a benefit to everyone. MLH (Major League Hacking) was there to rent out hardware to hackers for use during the event. CodeSchool is an academy for coding, and was there to help with any glitches. Other sponsors include MailChimp, which facilitates sending of mass emails, Ionic Security, and Domi. Not only were they there to lend a hand during the event, but sponsors often times come to scout potential employees at these events. These projects are a great way to observe and recruit people they think might fit well with their company. Not only is this a great portfolio builder for students to be involved in, but a great networking experience as well.
At the closing ceremonies, winners were chosen for their hacks and prizes were distributed. HackFSU had some serious technology swag to offer its winners. This varied from tablets, drones, wireless Dell bluetooth speakers, Pebble watches, security backpacks, illustration tablets, and more.
At the end of the 30 hours, hackers had created revolutionary projects that only continue to grow each year at HackFSU. They left with final products they were proud to take back to their respective schools, and were finally able to catch up on some much needed sleep, and start prepping for next year's Hackathon.
To find out more about Technole, the group behind Hackathon, and get info on other coding events, visit their website here.
Christie Childers, Contributing Writer
At the end of the 30 hours, hackers had created revolutionary projects that only continue to grow each year at HackFSU. They left with final products they were proud to take back to their respective schools, and were finally able to catch up on some much needed sleep, and start prepping for next year's Hackathon.
To find out more about Technole, the group behind Hackathon, and get info on other coding events, visit their website here.
Christie Childers, Contributing Writer
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