Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria hosted its second annual
Hackathon in early November. The student-run event gave middle schoolers and
high schoolers the opportunity to attend workshops, learn how to code and
ultimately create their own unique projects.
“This event has allowed me to give back to the community that has
fostered my growth and development over my four years of high school,” said
senior Patrick Riley, director of this year’s Hackathon. “Computer science gave
me the opportunity to explore my interests and creativity in ways I could not
before, and I am grateful to have been able to afford that opportunity to
others.”
“I was most surprised by the number of inexperienced programmers
who not only attended the event, but stayed the entire time and submitted
projects,” said Computer Science Teacher Terri Kelly, who orchestrated the
event. “The students flourished in the open-ended environment of choosing their
own project and the language they would create it in.”
More than 150 students from 43 different schools had the opportunity
to go to workshops on Java, Python, Android Studio, Programming and more.
Gautom Das and Alex Kreidler took home the grand prize, a paid
internship with Decipher Technology Studios, with their creation of a custom
app that allowed users to create and solve various problems.
Other notable projects included a rover that analyzed oil
contamination in beach sand (winner of Best Beginner Hack); a program that
utilized Amazon Alexa to reduce and monitor water consumption (winner of Best
Solution to a Real World Problem); and an app that converted brain waves into
audible speech (winner of Best Use of Hardware).
Find out more
For a complete list of student projects go to hackbi.devpost.com/.
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2018