Fifteen
student teams create prototype phone apps in 24-hour problem solving sessions.
Fifteen teams
and over 40 University of the Virgin Islands students participated in HackFest
2016. Participants generated prototype
phone apps in 24-hour marathon problem-solving sessions on Sept. 9 and 10, on
the Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix, and on Sept. 16 and 17, on the St.
Thomas Campus.
Student teams, supported
by other UVI students, faculty and NEARiX Corporation staff members, generated
creative apps related to this year’s theme, “Health and Wellness.” HackFest
team prizes were $500 cash for Best Hack, $100 cash for Most Innovative Hack
and $100 cash for Most Impactful Hack.
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| Participants in St. Croix Hackfest |
Now in its third
year, HackFest would not be possible without the support of NEARiX, a St. Croix
software development firm founded by Leon Hughes, CEO. HackFest participants are “all winners” said
Hughes. UVI President David Hall was on hand to personally congratulate all of the
2016 HackFest teams.
“I am so proud
of what our students accomplish in 24 hours,” said Dr. Timothy Faley, UVI’s Sokoloff Professor of
Entrepreneurship. “But to me this is not about the product they produce;
it’s about their own personal development. I see their confidence and
leadership skills grow exponentially over the 24-hours of HackFest – that’s a
fantastic thing to watch happen before your eyes.”
St. Croix Winners
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| St. Croix Hackers Brainstorming |
This year’s
“Best Hack” on St. Croix was awarded to the team comprised of computer science
major Amali Krigger and business major Mackenzie Gross for their phone app
“WhatUEatin?” The concept phone app allows you to upload your recipes and any
chronic health issues you may have. The app offers suggestions for healthy
substitutes for ingredients in your recipes. The social component of the app
lets you connect with others and share recipes and healthy eating advice.
In a surprise
announcement, Hughes awarded Krigger and Gross a gift certificate each good for
40 hours of free consulting with top developers of his firm. These
certificates, which have a total value of over $5,000, will provide the
resources necessary for this team to further develop their concept app. “Participating
in the HackFest was a life-changing and learning experience,” said Krigger. “It
gave me a chance to imagine an idea and bring it to life. It has given me hope,
resources and new ideas about my entrepreneurial and career goals.”
The “Most
Impactful Hack” on St. Croix was awarded to the concept phone app “Mom.” This
app was created by the team of Kalunda Cuffy, Tijani Shabazz, Alicia Taylor and
Kaheem Thomas. “Mom” acts as a life coach for college students. Like your real
Mom, the app gathers information from you on your NASA – Nutrition, Activity,
Sleep, and Academics. Based on this input, the app responds with concern and
behavior modification suggestions.
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| Hackfest Participants on the Albert A. Sheen Campus |
The “Most
Innovative Hack” on St. Croix went to the team of Terrance Emmanuel, Leanne
Morancie, and Geron Richards – the first English major to participate in UVI’s
hackathons. This team created the “Holistic Practitioner Healers” app that
assists in helping you to maintain your health by alerting you when your
emotions are out of balance. The concept app interprets an IR scan of your
body, available by using UVI’s 3D imaging cameras, to determine the state of
your chakra centers. The app then makes personalized recommendations based on
its analysis.
“I did not plan
to participate in this event,” said Geron Richards. “I attended the first day and became quite
interested in the different analytical concepts that the students were
brainstorming upon. The name ‘Hackfest’
gave many students the idea that this event might be confined solely to
computer science majors.” Richards
continued, “But it was a well-organized event that I think more students from
different majors should consider participating in next year.”
The concept
phone app “Mood Makers” earned a UVI Bookstore gift certificate courtesy of VI
EPSCoR. “Mood Makers” was developed by
Yolanda Felix-Medina and Khadijah O’Neill, the first all-female team to
participate in UVI hackathons. “Mood Maker” addresses the challenges college
students face regarding their lack of physical activity, imbalance of social
and productive life, time-management, depression and stress. The app functions
as a portal offering suggested links to information on specific topics of
students’ concerns.
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| Female hackers participating in the St. Croix event |
“I entered the
Hackathon to help my friend Khadijah O’Neill who desperately needed a partner,”
said Yolanda Felix-Medina. “I met great people whose ideas blew my mind. Khadijah participated in the hackathon last
year and found it sad that only one girl had participated in the event.
This year
O’Neill decided to partner with another woman.
The experience with a guy in the group would have been different, but we
really wanted to be the first all-female team and it worked out great,” she
said. “I definitely plan to participate
in next year’s Hackathon.”
St. Thomas Winners:
The “Best Hack”
on St. Thomas was awarded to the team of Eliakin del Rosario and Jodie Dasent
for their concept phone app “GourNet,” which will help you eat a more balanced
diet by providing nutritional information about the food you are consuming. By
either taking a photo of the food you are about to consume or verbally
describing it, the app will search databases and return the meal’s nutritional
information.
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| Gouret team accepting $500 Best Hack Prize |
“I will continue,
alongside my partner, to develop our app,” said del Rosario, who will pursue a
career in software development. “I believe we can really make a change by informing
the world about the nutritional values in the meals they consume throughout
their day. A healthy diet can truly extend our lives.”
“Participating
in the HackFest is always a fun experience,” said del Rosario, who has
participated in all three Hackathons with Dasent. “I enjoy exploring new ideas
and sharing with others the perks of technological advancements.”
The most
“Innovative Hack” on St. Thomas, which awards creativity, was presented to two
UVI freshmen and first-time hackers for their phone app “Binaural Healing
Waves.” The user of this concept app would self-diagnose their feeling…
anxious, sad, stressed, etc. The app would then determine which of the five
essential binaural waves might be responsible for the user’s negative symptoms.
The app puts these waves back in balance by delivering the out-of-balance waves
to the user as they watch a video or listen to music.
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| Binaural Waves Team on St. Thomas |
“Our experience
in the Hackathon was very inspirational,” said Hariol Brenton, who teamed up
with fellow freshman and first-time hacker, Chris Murphy. “We were able to
explore deeply in our minds to find an idea that would naturally, without any
negative side effects, benefit humanity in less than 24 hours.”
“They say you never
know what you are capable of until you try, and we were flabbergasted by how
much we were able to accomplish in such a short time. Just amazing,” Murphy said.
The most
“Impactful Hack” on St. Thomas, which awards utility and impact, was awarded to
the three-person team of Jesus Arista, Samuel Jones, and Shaneé Richards for
their concept app” NutriSmart.” This app delivers a recommended,
user-specific diet plan based on the user-supplied food preferences, and their
medical and physical conditions.
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| Hackfest 2016 T-Shirt |
VI EPSCoR
provided a UVI bookstore gift certificate to “$martFit,” which was developed by
Michael Garcia, Natisha Hodge, and Tommy Wise. The app is a gamification of
exercise app that motivates people to exercise by providing financial rewards.
Sponsoring companies that also advertise on the app will provide gift
certificates for achieving specific levels of exercise-related points.
The remaining
seven concept apps and development teams were:
·
“Balance;” developed by Sean Benjamin and
Jonathan Woods
·
“Diagnizer;” developed by Jason Baron and
Riviere King
·
“Hive;” developed by DeWein Pelle and Elangeni
Yabba
·
“L.G.M.;” Developed by Nakeshma Cassel, Lorne
Joseph, Morvel Fahie, and Davindra Ramsundar Jr.
·
“My Aid;” developed by Lawrence White and Kiarra
Vanterpool
·
“NetMed;” developed by Zandria Acosta; Jahnelle
Rivera, and Alayna Belshe
·
“UnderTake;” developed by Asel Mustafa, Fatimah
Hussein, and Haya Mustafa
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| Hackfest Participants on St. Thomas |
The
hackathons will be followed this year by a new software development competition
called “Design Slam.” That program will kick off on both UVI campuses on
Friday Oct. 14. During this months-long Design-Slam competition, the student
teams will develop detailed click-able prototype apps or websites. Cash prizes
and a trip to the national competition await the winners of this new
competition, which is sponsored by the firm Social Wellth.
