By: Loan-Anh Pham
Milpitas High’s first every hackathon was hosted in honor of Local Hack Day on Saturday, Dec. 1, Senior Christian Santos said. The event consisted various workshops and a hackathon, with 40 participants from a variety of schools, Santos explained.
Students visited from schools such as Foothill High and Santa Teresa High, Santos noted. The skill levels of participants were taken into account, with workshops to teach those that needed it and the hackathon allowing students to show off and win prizes, Santos continued.
“The hackathon was the main event for the day, with workshops being sprinkled in,” Santos said. “We had students from Milpitas Tech Society teaching workshops on technical interviews, basics of web design, and a new programming language.”
Students who participated in the hackathon split off in groups and created projects from scratch, culminating in a presentation, Santos explained. Prizes were given out for winners in categories such as “best web-based hack,” “most creative hack,” and “most humanitarian hack,” Santos added.
He served as a judge, mentor, and facilitator, Social Studies Teacher David Carter commented. It was exciting for MHS to host a hackathon since these events occur all over America with the inclusive message to gather people together to create something innovative, Carter explained.
“I was amazed with the products and the diversity of ideas that came in,” Carter commented. “I was amazed at how long these kids were working without a break and how driven they were to come up with some sort of a useful project.”
All the apps were impressive, Carter said. One app found sources of unused food in restaurants and stores and connected those places to shelters that needed the food, while another app provided student tracking software for ID cards that contained chips, Carter explained.
“[One] app allowed you to take pictures of objects and assign names or meaning to them,” Carter noted. “In a virtual reality (VR) environment when you point your phone with that app to that object, it says what it is or gives information about it. [It] can help the disabled who have forgotten what things are, or perhaps those with Alzheimer’s.”
A bigger hackathon in early April is in its planning stages, Carter confirmed. The plan is to integrate both hardware and software, perhaps letting students design code for actual robots, Carter continued.
“It’s kind of inspiring to be a part of that: it’s why I’m here,” Carter said. “I’m inspired by others, and I’m inspiring others.”
