Gettysburg College students earned awards recognizing their innovation, teamwork, and problem-solving skills during the 2023 YCP Hacks hackathon. The annual event, held Nov. 3-5 at York College of Pennsylvania, brought together 83 student participants from regional colleges and universities to create solutions to real-world problems using software libraries, code frameworks, and programming languages within a 40-hour window.
Gettysburg’s connectcampus team of Thuc Duy Tran ’27 and computer science majors Yashaswe Amatya ’26, Prabesh Bista ’26, and Sanij Shrestha ’26 received first prize for Best YCP Hacks, third prize for Best of Show, and recognition for Best Use of Auth0. The team’s project, an all-in-one college support resource tool, provides a platform for college students to connect, share knowledge, and offer assistance for tasks ranging from chores to academic coursework. The platform uses cutting-edge technologies, including React.js, Ant Design, Express.js, PostgreSQL, and Prisma, in a user-friendly, responsive application that brings students together to support one another.
“The hackathon was where I got to mix what I learned in class with real problem solving. It was a cool place to meet folks who come from different backgrounds and have different ranges of skills in computer science,” Bista said. “I am currently taking a data structure course [at Gettysburg], and this course has honed my technical skills. Having a strong grasp of programming skills is the topmost required skill for such hackathons.”
Team Space Spotter—which included Gettysburg’s Youssouf Farah Hassan ’27—earned Best Accessibility Hack (sponsored by Fidelity). The team developed hardware and software that records parking information for cities and towns and provides up-to-the-minute parking lot availability for drivers. This parking platform runs on a Flask Python framework with hardware and POST local server demos built using C and C++.
Other hackathon participants from Gettysburg included mathematics major Onil Morshed ’26 and computer science majors Alonda Rosas ’24 and Tanzim Mahtab Khandaker ’26. In addition to YCP Hacks, Gettysburg students participated in two other hackathons during the fall 2023 semester: the HackHarvard hackathon, Oct. 20-22, and the Technica hackathon, Oct. 21-22.
YCP Hacks provided students a real-world opportunity to apply their breadth and depth of knowledge in computer science and the liberal arts with the enduring skill of problem solving, a skill highly sought out by employers.
“This experiential learning environment allows students to live through the complete life cycle of a software and hardware project, from problem understanding to solution design, product development, testing, and interaction with nontechnical users,” said Computer Science Chair Sunghee Sunny Kim. “Hackathons serve as a dynamic platform for Gettysburg students to enhance their problem-solving skills, expand their technical toolkit, thrive in collaborative group work, and further develop into well-rounded professionals in the field of computer science.”
By Michael Vyskocil
Photos courtesy of Computer Science Chair Prof. Sunghee Sunny Kim
Posted: 12/20/23