Students 'Come Together' to develop Mobile App
The November 6, 2021 TECH CORPS Hackathon was a statewide competition held in-person in Akron, Columbus and Zanesville. More than 60 high school students from all over the state were part of the 12-hour event that culminated with the students’ presentation of their app.
During the TECH CORPS Hackathon, students learned how to use a mobile app development tool and received support and guidance from technology professionals from the community. The students were tasked with developing a mobile app that solved a real-world problem. National Executive Director, Lisa M. Chambers explained, “After 20 months of living through a global pandemic, we chose the theme ‘Coming Together’ and were so pleased with how the students embraced the challenge by creating apps that could truly bring people together.”
The winning teams from each region were as follows:
Akron: Pictured Top Left (l-r): Zarriah Sweeney from Cleveland and a senior at John Adams College Careers Academy, Kristian Chandler from Akron, and a Senior at John R Buchtel CLC, Harrison Rothschild from Copley and a sophomore at Copley High School and Trevor Kiehl from Akron and a sophomore at National Inventors Hall of Fame® STEM High School won the 2021 TECH CORPS Hackathon sponsored by AT&T and held at The University of Akron. The team’s app provides a platform where individuals can find online therapy professionals in their area. The app also offers chatrooms, hotlines and social media posts for individuals going through similar situations.
Columbus: Pictured Top Center (l-r): Paxten Denzin from Reynoldsburg and a ninth grader at Ohio Virtual Academy, Rana Ghoneim from Dublin and a ninth grader at Dublin Coffman High School — Dublin City School District and Sira Diallo from Columbus and a Junior at Cristo Rey Columbus High School — Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus won the 2021 TECH CORPS Hackathon sponsored by Nationwide and held at Capital University. The team’s app helps to regulate or improve your mood with interactive categories. Each category or “mood” contains a database of encouraging quotes, music & art that is also customizable to the user.
Zanesville: Pictured Top Right (l-r): Maya Sensabaugh, a ninth grader and Taya Sensabaugh, a senior both from Nashport and attend Licking Valley High School in the Licking Valley Local School District and Jacob Keffer from Zanesville and a senior at Tri County Career Center in Nelsonville won the 2021 TECH CORPS Hackathon sponsored by AT&T and held at Zane State College. The team’s app allows users to input hobbies and or interests to match with people around them to make more friends.
The teams were judged on their app’s functionality, design and relevance as well as their overall presentation. The judging panel was comprised of regional technology professionals. In Akron, judges were from Avient, Ernst & Young and The J.M. Smucker Company. The Columbus judges were from Olive AI, Nationwide Insurance and State Auto Insurance Companies. In Zanesville judges were from Muskingum County, GEAR UP Crooksville and Genesis Healthcare System.
Each regional teammate won $200 and will be recognized at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, December 8 during Computer Science Education Week.
This was my first time being part of this event and I was honored to be a judge at the Akron location. All of the apps the teams developed were great! They all had a selfless theme and it was touching to see how they used technology to help others. I was particularly touched by the winning team whose app was intended to help those suffering from mental illness. You could tell they all had a connection to the issue in some way and it was great to see them want to do something about it.
Thank you so much for being part of the 2021 TECHCORPShack! We so appreciate your contributions and hope to see you at other TECH CORPS opportunities!