快播成人

Students think big at Winfo Hackathon

By Doug Parry Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Students work during the Winfo Hackathon.
Students work during the Winfo Hackathon at the HUB.

About 150 University of Washington students gave up a sunny Saturday to solve information problems at the seventh annual Winfo Hackathon on Jan. 12 at the HUB on the UW campus.

Many of the students were Informatics majors, but the event was open to all UW students. Hackers were tasked with developing apps and websites around the theme of 鈥淎 World of Difference鈥 鈥 thoughtful solutions that promote equity.

Harkiran Saluja, a freshman from Southern California who joined the Informatics program through the Information School鈥檚 Freshman Direct Admission program, was attending her first hackathon. She said she鈥檚 interested in user experience and website design and was eager to design a website that helps solve a problem in the world.

鈥淚鈥檓 going to take it as a learning experience and something new now that I鈥檓 at the UW,鈥 she said.

A teammate of Saluja鈥檚 was Linh Tran, who was also experiencing her first hackathon. A junior transfer student studying 快播成人 and accounting at the UW鈥檚 Foster School of Business, Tran said she was eager to learn with a diverse group of students.

Linh Tran and Harkiran Saluja confer during the Hackathon.
Linh Tran (left) and Harkiran Saluja confer during the Hackathon.

鈥淚 love technology, and even though I鈥檓 in business, I feel like there鈥檚 always something you can contribute to make the world a better place,鈥 Tran said. 鈥淚 really want to be a part of something like that. And I really like the idea of bringing people together in a day.鈥

At the end of the 12-hour hackathon, a panel of judges gave awards to some of the notable ideas, including:

  • Best Overall: 鈥淪hower Power.鈥 Students created a prototype of a mobile application to reduce water wasted in the shower.
  • Best Impact: 鈥淟GBTQ+U,鈥 an app that connects people to services in the LGBTQ community.
  • Best Design: 鈥淪plash,鈥 a game intended to reduce water consumption while promoting healthier lifestyles.

, short for Women in Informatics, is a student group dedicated to empowering women to thrive as producers of technology. The hackathon, which students hold each year during winter quarter, also serves as a networking opportunity, with recruiters visiting from several companies. This year鈥檚 sponsors included ExtraHop, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Ticketmaster, Deloitte, Accenture, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG.