SIAT professor and students participate in inaugural hackathon

Over the course of 24 hours on February 20th and 21st, students from the School of Interactive Arts & Technology and across the university participated in the inaugural StormHacks hackathon, a 24-hour virtual hackathon put on by SFU Surge and accredited by Major League Hacking (MLH), a global league for student hackathons.

The event was also co-organized and sponsored by SIAT professor Sylvain Moreno along with the Digital Health Circle, a non-profit health technology organization supported by Simon Fraser University and led by Moreno.

The hackathon welcomed hackers, designers, engineers, and tech enthusiasts from SFU and across the country to take part in interactive workshops and activities. During the event, participants considered challenging tech problems and generated impactful design solutions.

Over 400 participants (or hackers) took part in the event with more than 50 projects submitted. Twenty-five SIAT students participated in the event and their projects accounted for 5% of the total submissions.

Moreno also participated in the event as one of 50 judges and, along with the Digital Health Circle, sponsored the health technology section of the hackathon.

The inaugural event was a great success and organizers look to build on this success to offer the StormHacks hackathon annually and continue uniting tech enthusiasts from SFU and across the country.

See all of the hackathon submissions and category winners here.

_{^{The $1000 prize for best hack for health was awarded to the project One Step Connect, an easy-to-use application for senior or disabled users to connect with caregivers and families.}}