18 Teams Compete in Global Graduate Initiative’s First Hackathon

12/01/2023

Saint Louis University hosted a Hackathon on Monday, Nov. 27, for 58 graduate students from Information Systems, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity and other academic programs.

Participants in the Hackathon pose for a photo with Eric Armbrecht, Ph.D. Photo submitted.

Global Graduate Scholars proposed, designed and implemented the event in coordination with the Kate Holdener, Ph.D, Daniel Shown, and Eric Armbrecht, Ph.D. The seven-person organizing committee was led by Abhilash Kotha, a second-year graduate student from the Department of Computer Science. Holdener and Shown visited to support the teams and clarified doubts had about the technical requirements and resources.

“It was a terrific leadership experience to be on the other side of a hackathon for once," said Hackathon organizer Naveen Madhave said. "I admire the innovation of my SLU classmates and want to offer more experiences like this one soon.”

During the two-hour session, small teams (up to four members) worked together to write open-source software code to solve the same problem. For this Hackathon, the problem involved scanning and analyzing scantron multiple-choice exam sheets to quickly and accurately automate grading.

Open Source at SLU recommended the problem statement and provided guidelines for evaluating the submitted solutions. Fifteen of the 18 teams successfully submitted original and innovative solutions on the github platform. Judging is underway to determine the winners.

Armbrecht distributed certificates to the teams and applauded their efforts and participation. Participants highlighted appreciation for the practical experience and the motivation they gained from working under time-pressure conditions.

"This was my first Hackathon and first taste of a fast-paced technical competition since joining SLU," said MS Computer Science program student Ramakanth Gosula. "Our team was motivated to showcase our technical skills and creativity to the judges and classmates. I am looking forward to more events like this one.”

The Global Graduate Scholars Hackathon team is planning two more events for Spring 2024. For more information, contact Abhilash Kotha at abhilash.kotha@slu.edu.