For Immediate Release
02/12/2018
Westminster, MD – High school and college students with an interest in coding, graphic design, and business will learn to design, build, and pitch an application in a weekend at the Second Annual Carroll County Hackathon. The Hackathon is free and interested students should register as soon as possible. Space is limited, register at www.CarrollCountyHackathon.com.
The Carroll County Hackathon is jointly sponsored by MAGIC, Bytelion, Carroll Community College, and McDaniel College. This year’s event will be hosted at Carroll Community College. “We at Carroll Community College are delighted co-sponsor and host the Hackathon, which has proven itself to be a very exciting event” said Dr. James D. Ball, president of Carroll Community College. “The local coding and app-building momentum that as resulted from this activity continues to snowball. It’s exhilarating to see students of all ages come together to showcase their imagination, creativity and coding prowess.”
The hackathon commences with a workshop developed by Bytelion on Saturday, February 17, 2018 in the Bollinger Family Conference Center room K100 at Carroll Community College. While students can work on any type of application, Bytelion, a technology company located in Carroll County Maryland, is developing the hackathon to focus on the intricacies of cryptocurrencies, including software generation, distributed computing, and the economics of cryptocurrency exchanges. “Carroll County has the talent and the drive to not only operate, but to compete on the world stage in this space,” said Terry MacGregor, CEO at Bytelion.
The following weekend, Friday, February 23 through Sunday, February 25, 2018, teams of students will gather in the K Building at Carroll Community College to work on their projects. Tech and entrepreneur experts will be volunteering all weekend to help students perfect their applications. “The Carroll County Hackathon is a terrific opportunity for up and coming developers to work alongside seasoned professionals while displaying their creativity and vision using innovative technologies,” said Andy McCallum, CTO at Bytelion.
The weekend concludes with presentations on Sunday, February 25, 2018 from 2-5pm. Students will pitch and demo their applications to judges in the Bollinger Family Conference Center room K100. Parents and community members are encouraged to attend to see what the students have created!
“Community events such as the Hackathon, along with the rapidly increasing need for coding skills by local and regional businesses, led Carroll Community College to implement a new app development training program for the iOS platform,” stated Chet Andes, Coordinator of IT and Workforce Development. “Our ten-week Swift program was designed specifically to fit the needs of busy high school and college students as well as working adults. We hope to see many of the Hackathon participants register for this new program to help them prepare for a career they’re obviously passionate about.”
2017 Winning Team
Participants from last year’s Carroll County Hackathon were placed into internships and part-time and full-time jobs as a result of their performance during the hackathon. “One of the things I enjoy most about the Hackathon,” says Josh Ambrose, Executive Director of the Center for Experience and Opportunity at McDaniel College, “is that it has already helped several of our students place into internships, part-time work, and even full-time employment. I’m excited to see participation numbers rise as more students, from more locations, engage in a weekend that truly can change lives.”
For more information, visit: www.carrollcountyhackathon.com
