Cal Poly Hackathon to Celebrate Student Design and Creativity April 8-9

Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department and Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) will host the fourth annual Design & Dev Hackathon from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, April 8, and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 9, in the Bonderson Engineering Center (No. 197), Room 104, on campus.

Teams do not need to be organized ahead of time. Individuals can participate as a marketer/idea person, designer/UX or developer/engineer. Teams will be formed and brainstorming sessions will run from 7 to 9 p.m. April 8. Students can then start working on their project off site or at one of the 24-hour locations that will be open on campus.

The hackathon encourages Cal Poly students to pool their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to develop an app, a website or another project that is intended to make life better for the campus and local communities. The event is open to students from all disciplines and is led by Lorraine Donegan and Charmaine Farber, both professors in the Graphic Communication Department and CIE Faculty Fellows.

The event is intended to inspire idea sharing and team building. It will also give students the opportunity to finish a project in a competitive environment with the guidance of experienced mentors. At 8 p.m. April 9, each team will pitch their idea to a panel of judges.

This year, 10 mentors and judges — many traveling from San Francisco and Los Angeles — will be on hand Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to assist students during the creative process and to give advice about various technologies for development and design. Past hackathon events have resulted in job and internship opportunities and student startups.

The free event is open to Cal Poly students; registration is required. A number of spots are available for spectators and members of the media. Registration is also required to attend the pitch presentations.

Sponsors for the event include Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department and College of Liberal Arts and TransUnion, Pariveda and Apple.