UCLU TechSoc hosts Porticode

On the 10–11th December, UCLU Tech Soc held its very own Hackathon called Porticode. The workshops and beginner focus meant that UCL welcomed 65% first-time hacker! A total of 120 attendees, 5 winners, 24 hours?—?the hacks that were produced were incredible.

Emily Mears, Tech Soc Vice President, has blogged about Porticode – see below:

"It’s 5am on Sunday morning in the South Cloisters, and I’ve just finished my first can of Monster. In front of me 20 or so students sit at tables, their faces lit by the screens in front of them, with discarded wrappers and water bottles acting as the only proof of time passing. To quote the remarks of a passer-by, they are ‘just sitting there all night’.

"What I am witnessing is the night shift of UCLU TechSoc’s very own hackathon, Porticode. The meaning of the word hackathon is easy to grasp at, but lots of people don’t get it quite right. These students have 24 hours to make something, anything, that uses technology and that might win them a prize at the end. The prizes are awarded in categories, so they might focus on making something purely for kicks (there is a prize for funniest hack) or go for a creation so polished that they could sell it to a consumer tomorrow.

"Generally, hackathon competitors are skilled programmers with a lot of experience. This, combined with the competition and the high level of stress that comes with the time pressure, can make hackathons a daunting experience. Porticode, however, is a bit different. For 60% of the people here this is the first hackathon that they have attended, and many have no coding experience beyond what they have learned over the last 12 hours.

"Porticode was designed to be a hackathon for beginners, and to break down the barriers that often stop students from entering the scene. Workshops run by TechSoc committee members and sponsors helped get the hackers on their feet, giving them tools and skills that they could use in their projects. Then mentors, each with their own area of expertise, roamed the floor answering questions, giving hints and ensuring no one was left stranded.   

"As the sun rose, the 24 hour hacking period drew to close and prizes were awarded to the winners of each category. The prizes for the funniest hack and the most innovative hack both went to attendees that had never been to a hackathon before. The funniest hack winners, who made an automated version of the famous wikipedia game, learned JavaScript from scratch at the event. The main prize went to Sumantha, a program that summarises slack conversations that you’ve missed. There was also a team that made fantastic use of an API provided by our sponsor, Skyscanner. It allows people waiting in the same airport to communicate and meet each other. The full list of submitted projects and winners can be found here.

"We hope that the event has inspired people to go on and hack bigger and better things in the future. The TechSoc committee had great fun organising and running it, and has encouraged us to work just as hard on more hackathons in 2017. You can check out photos of the event here. Thanks everyone for coming!"