MiddHacks

April 24-25, 2021

UPDATE: REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

This website will be updated with information as we approach the day of the event. Check periodically so you don't miss anything!

WHAT IS A HACKATHON?

WHAT ABOUT MIDDHACKS?

A hackathon is an event in which participants form teams and work together around a specific idea or problem; they start from scratch to come up with new solutions. The goal of a hackathon is to create functioning software or hardware by the end of the event. We are not using a computer to gain unauthorized access to data in a system (in the popularized sense of the word); instead, we are building a prototype for an idea and problem statement in an innovative way in a given time, while having fun!

MiddHacks is Middlebury College's first ever hackathon hosted by the Innovation and Technology Committee on the Student Government Association. It is aimed at supporting Middlebury students and the community. Participants will work in teams of 3-5 to design and innovate amazing projects in just 24 hours. There will be exciting workshops, tech talks, games, and prizes! Don't have a team or even an idea? Don't worry! We'll give you the tools to build something incredible.

MiddHacks hopes to create an inclusive and supportive environment for all hackers. Any student is welcome to participate. Registration is now open!

Don't want to build something but still want to be a part of the hackathon? Volunteer to help on the day of the event by filling out this form.

Participants will be challenged to solve a problem from one of these three categories. From research and communication with local businesses, non-profit organizations, community centers, and Middlebury departments, we have tailored our problem statements for the Middlebury campus and larger Vermont community.

You may choose from one of our problems the day of the hackathon or you may bring your own idea to the event.

Supporting Vermont Innovation & Non-Profits

Technology to Overcome a Global Pandemic

Envisioning Equity and Community

Want to attend MiddHacks but you don't want to code all day? Register for the hackathon anyways and sign up for our workshop when workshop registration opens the week before our event.

INTRO TO GITHUB: VERSION CONTROL & COLLABORATION

Git is a version control system that lets you track who and what changes have been made in your code, allowing you and others to update your code on Github. No previous experience is required! You can download git and create a free Github account before the start of the workshop. If you already have git installed feel free to show up at 11:30 instead!

HOW TO PITCH A PROJECT

Learn how to present your project idea to others with OratoryNow, Middlebury's center for training and research in oral expression. What should we know when trying to develop a project and asking for funds? How do we build our idea into a well structured plan? How do we present our ideas online.

CREATING A PORTFOLIO WEBSITE WITH HTML, CSS, AND JAVASCRIPT

Gain experience creating a simple, but modern-looking, portfolio website and deploying it to GitHub (via GitHub pages). To do so we will learn about basic web technologies - HTML, CSS, JS - and toolkits, like Bootstrap, that accelerate web development. No previous experience is required! Must have a GitHub account and Git Installed.

GOOGLE SHEETS FOR DATA: FUNCTIONS, PATTERNS, AND SCRIPTS

Use Google Sheets to do more with your data. Do live imports from websites. Clean and format data in complex ways. Publish your data for display or ingestion by other services. No previous experience is required!

NETWORKING SESSION

Meet other hackers, alums, and technology enthusiasts!

AMONG US

A modern classic. Take a break and meet new people while playing games!

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN CS USING GAMES

In this workshop, we will explore how educational games can be designed and used to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in computer science. We will be joined by Charlotte Cheng and Daniela Lao from the CodeCombat Team, who will discuss the design of Ozaria, an adventure game where students learn how to code to save their world.

CODING MINDFULLY

This workshop will investigate how mindfulness practices can help us become better programmers. We will learn about and practice three essential mindfulness skills: diaphragmatic breathing, breath awareness, and thought watching.

INTRO TO USER INTERFACES/USER DESIGN (UI/UX)

Come learn about the principles guiding the design fields concerned with the user interface and user experience of technologies. How can these principles help developers create more engaging and thoughtful technology? How can one create a good UI and UX? How exactly do we effectively present our projects to users?

WEB SCRAPING WITH R

In just one hour, we will learn how to scrape text, data, and images in R with ease. We'll then consider the ethical and legal considerations of wielding such power, and we'll discuss the ways in which web scraping can systematically advantage those with high computing power (or a lack of ethics!). No knowledge of R is necessary, although knowledge of an object-oriented programming language (such as Python) will be helpful. Download R to follow along or just watch!

Find the Schedule Here or at Go/middhacksschedule

Is this your first hackthon too? PERFECT! Us too. A special welcome to you and we're so excited you've decided to join us .

MiddHacks hopes to attract participants at varying levels of technical expertise and with a wide range of interests. We welcome the first-year student who has never taken a coding class before college but is interested in technology to the Computer Science senior who has all the technical building blocks.

Newcomers often suffer from "imposter syndrome", the feeling that they don't belong because they don't have skills, aren't smart enough, etc. As MiddHacks organizers it is our job to help you realize that you have something to contribute to your team. We want all participants to have a fulfilling experience and you get to decide what that looks like for you.

To support our newcomers, we will have workshops to teach you basic technical skills and tools such as web development, Github, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and more (see our workshop section for more details). We also hope to pair newcomers with more technically advanced participants and have them work on a team and learn by immersing themselves in that project.

We know this won't be your last hackathon and we are happy that you've decided to start with MiddHacks!

WHEN? WHERE?

MiddHacks will take place on April 24-25, 2021 on Discord and Zoom. It will start on Saturday, April 24 at 8:00 AM EST and end on Sunday, April 25 at 1:00 PM EST.

WHO'S COMING

We expect students from Middlebury College to attend Middlebury's first ever hackathon.

WHAT CAN I MAKE?

We welcome all software hacks that align to our tracks!

DO I NEED EXPERIENCE

No you do not! We encourage participants to work in teams of 3-5 people but you do not need to be a part of a team before registering. You may opt-in to team formation during registration which will take place at the beginning of the event. We discourage working alone - it's no fun!

DO I NEED A TEAM TO REGISTER?

No experience necessary. We will have plenty of resources, along with several workshops targeted for beginners. Some coding experience would be helpful but come learn and experience your first hackathon at MiddHacks!

HOW CAN I BECOME A SPONSOR

Thank you for your interest!
Email us at sga@middlebury.edu

WHO CAN I WORK WITH?

Anyone, in a team of 3-5! Get to know your fellow hackers better from your own school and other schools! The only request that we have is that you make a new friend by talking to each other!

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

You can participate as long as you're a Middlebury student (undergraduate or graduate) 18 years or older and abide by the MiddHacks Code of Conduct.

PRIZES?

There will be prizes!

CAN I USE AN OLD PROJECT?

Why don't we build something new? The whole fun of this hackathon is building something new, from scratch with a team.

I HAVE A TEAM. HOW DO WE REGISTER?

That's great! All members of the team must complete individual registration forms. On the day before the event, you will need to provide us with all members of your team at check-in.

I WANT TO VOLUNTEER. HOW CAN I HELP?

Thank you for your interest! We are in need of volunteers at the time of the actual event, no programming experience necessary. Please complete this form to sign up to volunteer at the event.