Students break the code during Hawkathon – The Hawkeye

ULM’s chapters of the Google Developers Student Club (GDSC) and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) created a new event called the ULM Hawkathon. The Hawkathon, which took place on April 12 and 13, provided computer science students with opportunities for skill development, networking and increasing problem-solving skills.

GDSC President Bishwo Dahal explained why the two organizations came together to sponsor the Hawkathon. He says the Hawkathon offers computer science students hands-on experience that they cannot get elsewhere on campus.

“I mean, computer science is practical,” said second-year computer science student Dahal. “You need to have practical knowledge before joining an IT company, and events like hackathons help you test your practical skills.”

Once students arrived at the Hawkathon, they engaged in an open discussion to identify campus-wide issues and brainstorm possible solutions. After the open discussion, the judges gave the teams criteria for the Hawkathon project. Students had to create an app that connects ULM students by sharing interests or tackling a campus problem.

First-year computer science student Unika Bista explained his reasons for participating in the Hawkathon. He said he enjoyed creating a new project together with his fellow computer science students.

“It is a great event for students. The teams here are really doing their best and we see many good projects,” says first-year computer scientist Unika Bista. “I think for me, I got the opportunity to network with people from C’s.”

Representatives from International Business Machine Corporation (IBM), a multinational technology conglomerate with multiple offices in North Louisiana, gave a presentation on the evolving field of AI.
IBM is currently focusing on developing new AI software. The speaker discussed the genAI chatbot, which extracts data from submitted videos to gather information.

After the presentation, the teams presented their projects to the jury.
The top three teams were invited on stage to give presentations to the entire audience. The jury chose the winners based on their presentation and technical skills.

Team “Byte Builders” won the Hawkathon led by Prashan Sapkota, Unnayan Thapa, Utsab Neupane and Sulav Dhakal. Team member Prashant Sapkota explained why he thinks his team won the Hawkathon.

“I think what set us apart from others was the problem we were trying to solve,” said first-year computer science major Prashan Sapkota. We focused on solving three problems on campus and used five programming languages ​​to compete.”

17 teams took part in the competition, which served as a platform for students to work on challenges together. However, Dahal is trying to expand the Hawkathon beyond ULM’s campus.

“Our next goal is to organize a state-level hackathon, or at least a hackathon that puts other universities at risk,” Dahal said.

The GDSC and ACM plan to continue collaborating on events like the Hawkathon to showcase ULM’s talented and tech-savvy student body.