By Benjamin Gonzalez
University of Maryland students convened at the Computer Science Instructional Center for a day of hacking, hosted by Terrapin Hackers Dec. 1.
The event was the fourth annual local hack day run by the club. Upon check-in, attendees were greeted by an assortment of stickers being handed out by volunteers
President of Terrapin Hackers Michael Wittner, a senior computer science major, announced the start of the event with the opening ceremony.
“The significance of this event is [that] it’s encompassing a lot of what we do,” said Wittner. “We are a group that likes to build for fun, whether it’s through art, technology or any other ways that people want to express the way they build.”
He invited the president of the XR club and the president of the University of Maryland chapter of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) to speak at the opening.
SASE president Parth Patel, a fourth year aerospace engineering major, tabled for his organization in the back of the main hacking room to try to get students to sign up for the SASE regional conference in the spring.
“We wanted to show [attendees] the opportunity that our organization provides for them,” said Patel. “Coming out to events like this, getting our name out there is a good way for students to find not only more opportunities, but another community to be indulged in.”
According to the opening presentation, local hack day is “a 12-hour hackathon & celebration of learning, building, & sharing.”
“I would always try to encourage [people to learn] about the community,” said Wittner of how to get first-time hackathon attendees to show up to events like the local hack day.
Varanika Sharma, a freshman computer science major, took part in Technica, an annual all-women hackathon hosted at the University of Maryland. She came to get more experience with hackathons.
“Because I’m a freshman, I really don’t have a lot of experience with computer science,” said Sharma. “It’s a really good way to learn from a lot of people who know a lot of stuff.”
Anjali Viramgama, a sophomore computer science major, says she loves hackathons and tries to get to as many as she can. She was excited to test out an idea she had for a project and hoped it worked.
“I always learn a lot in hackathons,” said Viramgama. “I just manage to learn a lot because of the environment. Everyone is working, so I’m working.”
Wittner also hoped people that came to the event would learn something. Multiple workshops were held throughout the day and were led by members of Terrapin Hackers.
“The one thing I hope is [that the attendees] learn something,” said Wittner. “The other thing is it will bring out the skills they learned in school or online and bring them out to reality.”
For some people, another goal is to go out and win an award for their project. Award categories at the local hack day included best hack-UMD design, best hack-UMD hardware hack, best hack-UMD software hack and audience choice.
“It’s exciting to get to make a project and see if it wins something,” said Sharma.