The Engineering Center is preparing for one of the biggest STEM events of the semester; GrizzHacks. The hackathon is a 24-hour engineering marathon to craft a STEM project with friends.
Starting on March 22 at 10 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m., March 23, the EC will keep its doors open for anyone with innovative ideas, an interest in sharpening their STEM skills or a regular tech lover. The Grizz Hacks team explains their holistic approach to the seventh edition of the event.
“Oakland’s hackathon is student-led, student-run and basically it’s a 24-hour programming competition,” Bethany Goss, GrizzHacks secretary, said. “You come up with a problem, and you come up with a solution and try to implement it. Afterward, you can present it to a panel of judges — usually OU alumni, staff or sponsors.”
The marathon will start with a sponsor fair where students can come in and network with industry partners. Four meals will be provided throughout the duration of the event, Chipotle being the first and favorite pick for OU students.
“We will have a CTF [Capture the Flag], we are creating an environment for people to go in and do specific challenges,” Goss pointed out as the first event outside of the main competition. “Some of them are open source intelligence related, web related or cryptography cracking challenges.”
FREE-WILi, OU Credit Union and 365 Retail Markets will be giving Tech Talks about the latest innovations and opportunities for STEM students. The gaming guild will have board games available to de-stress alongside a video game room and a midnight trivia session.
“I always like to say it’s more of a ‘create-a-thon’ — your goal is to create something within 24 hours, not to hack something,” Kaeden Bryer, GrizzHacks coordinator said. “It’s as competitive as you want to be, you do not have to feel like you’re forced to just compete against the best of the best.”
The GrizzHacks team emphasizes that the event is more of a community-building opportunity rather than an intense competition. When projects are presented at the end, judges focus more on celebrating innovation and highlighting improvement opportunities while students can put their knowledge to practice.
“No matter how good you are programming, you are good enough to attend Grizz Hacks, and you should attend GrizzHacks, because you will only get better,” Bryer said. He first participated for the first time last year and has been attending multiple hackathons since then, winning a prize at MSU’s hackathon.
Last year, OU students walked out with a Nintendo Switch and a Nespresso machine, among other prizes. Solos or groups of up to four participants can compete, with the opportunity of meeting fellow students on-site at a “formation hour” so people can exchange ideas, tag along and find a group.
“There are people who are like, ‘Oh, I don’t know what it means to program,’ or ‘I don’t know if I’d be able to even complete a project in time’ — project completion is not the goal,” Goss said. “The goal is to try new technologies, have fun, see what other people are doing and gather inspiration. The idea is to meet other people and find that collaborative element and see if there’s something else you’d like to do with your career.”
Students interested in participating can register at grizzhacks.org. The website also includes an FAQ’s section with information about fasting, code of conduct, prices and application deadlines.
“The energy at GrizzHacks is absolutely incredible,” Computer Science Special Instructor Kate Bowers said. “Especially in March, students tend to get overwhelmed with their coursework and learning becomes a grind. GrizzHacks is an opportunity to remind yourself why you joined this major and how fun it can be.”
