USU to Host Utah's Biggest Intercollegiate Hackathon

Utah’s biggest intercollegiate hackathon returns for a third year to Utah State University on Nov. 17-18. Organizers expect more than 300 students from various colleges and universities in the state to attend.

Participants will spend 36 hours creating software and hardware applications, learning new technologies and networking with recruiters from Utah companies.

HackUSU began in 2015 as the first student-organized hackathon in the state of Utah. The intercollegiate event is free and open to any college student, including engineering, art, design, social work and business majors.

During the 36-hour event, students compete to build software and hardware tools to solve everyday problems encountered in technology or programming. This year's event also includes a workshop on combating homelessness in Utah. Participants will learn about the various data sets related to social services in Utah and will get an opportunity to develop apps or other tools that help address Utah's ongoing homelessness problem.

At the end of the hackathon, teams will present their creations for a chance to win prizes. Corporate sponsors include Utah State University Research Foundation, Major League Hacking, Conservice, Jet Brains, RStudio, 100TB, Utah Open Data Catalog, IM Flash and Cloudflare.

Reporters are welcome to attend and are encouraged to speak with student participants. For more information about the event and schedule, visit HackUSU.org.

Editor’s Note: The term ‘hack’ does not always refer to the illegal entry into a secure computer system. In this context, hack means using a combination of tools and knowledge to develop solutions to everyday problems encountered in programming and technology.