Students as young as Middle School aged gathered at NIU to ‘hack’ for over 24 hours, in a marathon event.

The NIU Huskie Hackathon was held noon on Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday at The Holmes Student Center, Duke Ellington Ballroom. This event was designed for students to collaborate and build entrepreneurial skills through the use of computer coding, engineering and technology. To denote what school’s the students came from, each student wore a name tag with their name and school.

Project manager Tracey Rogers-Tryba wore “Hack Mom” on hers.

“That’s what they call me,” Rogers-Tryba said. “You name it, I do it — from connecting with the schools and contacting speakers, to working with NIU Foundation representatives and the Division of Outreach.”

Tracey said it took her the course of a year to plan the event. She is an expert in her knowledge of hacking and planning.

“You don’t know what to expect when you hear the word hack-a-thon,” Rogers-Tryba said. “There is peer-to-peer learning, they’re in there creating ideas that are innovative and will stretch the imagination. Every opportunity is a learning opportunity.”

Of the plethora of skills that the students attending the hack will learn, Rogers-Tryba says adaptability and versatility are at the forefront. She also believes that someone who has participated in a hackathon will be more employable. Rogers-Tryba explained the benefits of diversifying the competition beyond NIU students by saying, “They’re building on each other’s strengths. It’s the love of learning and the ability to discover what excites you. Hack means to imagine, to repurpose, and to reuse.”

The projects that some hacking groups were working on together were focused on overcoming

the problem of texting and driving, alleviating some aspects of hearing disabilities, and creating

an original virtual reality experience. The winner of the competition and the top prize apple watch, revealed at 2 p.m. Sunday, was ________. No hacker left without a reward. To participate in the hack was a reward in and of itself because no matter what, the hacker experiences the reality of how hard work can propel the hunger for a solution.

Ashley Grazutis, hack-a-thon volunteer and junior middle-level teaching and learning spanish

major, was a key part in the smoothness of the 24-hour cerebral experience. Grazutis could speak

to the dedication and mentalities of these hackers by describing their behavior.

“They get breaks in between, but the projects are designed to solve problems,” says Grazutis.

“There are events like bowling to get them to relax. They have a product that they need to design very quickly.”

The 2016 Hackathon is only the second annual outing. The hacking community generally seemed to be enthusiastic about the continuation of the event as it pertained to the success that

comes with it.