MHacks Adds New Workshops and Events for 6th Hackathon

Since the first MHacks in February 2013, Michigan students have built the bi-annual event into a sophisticated operation that draws speakers, participative sponsors, and student participants with a variety of technical and non-technical backgrounds. With each new MHacks comes new projects that showcase what students are capable of creating.

Over 1,300 students from across the country, 68% being computer science and computer engineering students, will arrive at the Bob and Betty Beyster Building, as well as other buildings on North Campus, to brave the 36-hour event to create something unique and amazing.

This semester, MHacks 6 will take place September 11th-13th, and it is sure to be just as inspiring, creative, and enjoyable as the previous events.  “In my experience, MHacks is much more than energy drinks, sleepless nights, and non-stop building. There’s a greater emphasis on learning and diversity  in thought, background, and action. And as a result  MHacks is redefining the hackathon and the hacker,” said a participant from MHacks V.

There will be even more emphasis on learning and diversity at this coming hackathon with their new workshops and events. This will include seven intro-level workshops led by students with the support from industry leaders like Apple and EA to help new hackers grow within the field. The workshops will be: Intro to Hackathons, Intro to iOS, Intro to Android, Intro to Web Development, Intro to Hardware, Intro to Game Design, and Intro to UI/UX Design. There will be around 150 students who will attend each of the 1.5-hour workshops. Also, if students would like a more in-depth experience on each topic, MHacks plans on launching a semester-long workshop series with Michigan Hackers and Wolverine Soft.

MHacks has also added a new event entitled Women@MHacks, which is an 8-hour long event directed towards female engineers. The event will provide the women at the hackathon with an open, encouraging, and supportive environment. This event, which will take place on Saturday September 12th, will feature various lightning talks from women engineers from well-known companies.  They have also invited prominent female hackers in the community to share their stories of becoming engineers.

MHacks 6 is organized by two U-M student groups, Michigan Hackers and MPowered Entrepreneurship and is hosted by The Center for Entrepreneurship. The hackathon is also a part of Major League Hacking, which is a community-run organization that supports over 40 hackathons across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The hackathon gives students the opportunity to meet future co-founders, friends, and network with well-known companies, and the Michigan community is looking forward to seeing the projects produced at MHacks 6.