Civic hacking is when individuals find creative solutions for issues relating to the duties or activities of people in relation to their town, city, or local area. This year’s Tech Hub Hackathon themed “Hack My City” allowed attendees to do just that.
FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science East Building
South Florida continues to be recognized as one of the country’s top growing technology hubs and has become a destination for tech and innovation. As more technologists flock to our region, South Florida Tech Hub recognizes the important role that the individual people who live in our communities play in developing a thriving ecosystem for all.
The hackathon was presented by Office Depot, Florida Power & Light (FPL), Varis and Florida Atlantic University. Guest speakers included Michael Fowler, VP of IT @ Florida Power & Light (FPL) and Co-Chair at South Florida Tech Hub, Andrew Parry, VP of Application Development & Support at Office Depot and Tech Hub Board Member, and Stella Batalama, Dean at FAU’s College of Engineering & Computer Science.
The hackathon took place in the beautiful Florida Atlantic University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science building east enabling developers, designers, project managers, and entrepreneurs to come together and develop tech for their local communities.
Mayor Josh Levy, City of Hollywood
This year’s “City Partner” was the City of Hollywood. The Mayor of the City of Hollywood, Josh Levy, had a special message for the hackers this year saying, “Events like this hackathon highlight the important role that technology plays each and every day in our lives and our community and there’s no better place or time to be here in South Florida.” He continued, “You know the tech scene here in South Florida is on fire!”
Janelle Richards, Economic Development Marketing Coordinator, was also in attendance helping educate the attendees on opportunity’s to connect with the City and how they are “leaning into tech.” The City’s IT Director, Raheem Seecharan, was also a part of the judges panel.
Other judges included, Kiran Singh, Data Analytics & Data Science Leader at NextEra Energy Resources, Jonathan Sanchez, Software Engineer at City Furniture at CITY Furniture, Tahl Milburn, Technologist, Startup Mentor, and Investor with Seedfunders and New World Angels, and Martha Rios, BCEx Entrepreneurship Specialist atBroward College. Additional sponsors included City of Hollywood, Semantix, and Helpfull.
1ST PLACE, $2,500 PRIZE: Jellified Pandas
- Solution: The Gradebook – A tool that integrates with Canvas/Blackboard and display which students are struggling with the material easing the load off the teacher’s plate and making it easier to provide additional resources to students who need them.
- Team Members: Pinaki Upadhyay, Mahri Almazova, Shirley Xu, Joshua Walsworth, Bryan Cook
- See Presentation | See Github
2ND PLACE, $1,500 PRIZE: Curly Braces
- Solution: CITYFI – An app solving the communication gap between the community and local government by allowing citizens to report hazards using geotagging and allowing the city to communicate feedback on the the reported issues directly.
- Team Members: Ashley Clayden Moss, Kevin Pereira, Riley Coussens, Lia Moua, Ivan Duran, Joseph Rivera
- See Presentation | See Github
3RD PLACE, $1,000 PRIZE: Player 5
- Solution: Pet Watch – An app to helping humans to find their furry family members. Users can post if their pet goes missing if they find a missing pet. The app uses location to connect pets with their owners.
- Team Members: Lucas Mattos, Marita Perez, David Russell, Paul Russell, Praveen Yalamanchi
- See Presentation | See Github
The winning team consisted of five FAU students which included three women — and we love that!
Pinaki Upadhyay
When asked in an interview post-win by Nadia Volkova, Tech Hub’s Programs and Events Coordinator, “What will you do with the $2500,” team leader and third year computer science student, Pinaki Upadhyay, responded, ” . . . put it into investments, but now I think I should do more hackathons and maybe have a startup company. Maybe I have that talent!” Our response – You go girl!!
Team Jellified Pandas
Team member Joshua Walsworth stated, “This event has also given me the chance to network with technology professionals of all different backgrounds, and I have made connections I expect to maintain down the road.”