TAMUHack is Texas A&M University’s annual hackathon event that brings together students from around the nation to share their passion for learning, creativity and self-expression through technology.
The hackathon was held at the Memorial Student Center on the Texas A&M campus and was sponsored by several companies including Google, Facebook and Capital One. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M and Startup Aggieland were a couple of the many partners that also helped to make the event possible.
Each year, TAMUHack brings the most creative and driven student hackers from all over the country to make their most innovative ideas come to fruition. Workshops were held throughout this year’s 24-hour event, allowing students to learn just as much in their time at the event as they did creating and tinkering on projects.
TAMUHack student organization officers, Sahil Dhanju, Himank Yadav and Denise Irvin helped put the event together, as well as other students from computer science and engineering and various departments within the Texas A&M University College of Engineering.
“Our goal has always been to try to strengthen this mentality and culture here at A&M, by having students realize just how easily they are able to create with nothing but an idea and their 13-inch laptop,” Dhanju said. “We hope this year's hackathon has either instilled this passion for creation to first time hackers or strengthened it for those already accustomed to it.”
The organizers are dedicated to forming a unique atmosphere that harbors creativity and motivates students each year to push the limits and pursue novel ideas. They are committed to continually making the event even better than the last.
“We had a record high of 540 hackers from around the state,” said Jeff Zhao, junior mechanical engineering student who helped organize the event. “This year, we had the budget to send out buses to The University of Texas, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at San Antonio and University of Texas at Dallas. Because of these efforts, over 150 non-Texas A&M hackers attended. The organizing team and I put in a lot of work, and in the end, everyone had a great time and learned a lot. We hope to increase attendance further and come back next year with an even better event."
Rafa Moreno, computer science and engineering senior who played an instrumental part in creating the very first TAMUHack, said, "Four years ago I started traveling the country mostly on my own attending these hackathon and networking events. After pulling some friends in and starting the hackathon, I'm very excited and pleased to see how many students are now going to these events across the country, and preparing themselves for industry as a result."