Monmouth University is sponsoring a high school hackathon Friday, February 7, 2025, at Monmouth University.  Our STEMmaps Stories Podcast had a conversation with Professor Rolf Kamp, Specialist Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Monmouth University about the MU High School Hawk Hack, to discuss how students could get involved in the competition. This is not the first Hackathon at Monmouth University, nor is it the first Hackathon held in Monmouth County, NJ. Last year in October 2023, EquiHacksS1 held a hackathon for middle and high school students in Monmouth County. iCIMS, the HR Tech firm at Bell Works hosted a hackathon on October 27 of 2018. MLH (Major League Hacking) held a MLH Prime hackathon in 2016 at Bell Works. There was the HackFRee Hackathon in January 2024 held at Manalapan High School for students at the Freehold Regional High School District (FRHSD). Maintaining continuity of Hackathons in Monmouth County is a challenge as leaders who spearhead an event may move on to college or a different school and the program sometimes goes with them. High School students are already inundated with responsibilities, so having a place to find these opportunities and build teams that aggregate talent with experience in hackathons is instrumental to increasing participation in Monmouth County. Local companies and employers should know who the players are so they can support programs and find local talent.  For those students who return home after freshman and sophomore year of college, there should be an uncomplicated way to reconnect locally to employers. STEMmaps hopes to help solve some of those continuity problems, by aggregating opportunities available to students in Monmouth County in one place. Talent and opportunities in Monmouth County continue to be disperse, with students at one High School completely unaware of what talent is doing at another High School.

Hackathons are another terrific way to recruit students for work, which is why it isn’t bad to get started locally at a High School hackathon.  Some hackathons have age limits and are limited to students 18+, so it is important to look into the details as they vary. Not all hackathons have companies or employers scouting for talent either, but some do. Teams come together to solve problems during a compressed period (for example 24-48 hours). The competitions sometimes focus on problem solving using programming and software development but can also involve hardware to solve problems. Hackathon teams can win awards and financial prizes. Some robotics competitions have a similar structure where a part of the competition involves producing a solution to real life problems, however, often the competition gives these problems in advance, usually not on the spot during a compressed period (the marathon part of hackathons). The interesting thing about Hackathons is that they bring a lot of people together with different skill sets and varied strengths to solve a problem. Not all are exclusive to coders. At some events, there are mentors who come around to help troubleshoot.

Hackathons are not only enjoyable experiences but offer an important insight into how you may fare working with teams.  Even though the challenges force you to produce a solution to a problem under a compressed period, putting together teams and figuring out how to delegate, collaborate and create solutions with others is a challenge in itself. It is understandable that these competitions are ideal for employers looking to hire talent, as they can observe how people collaborate and work together under stressful situations, produce innovative solutions, pitch ideas, and build teams. Hiring people from a resume does not always give you that level of insight on how people work and approach solving problems with other people, which is exactly what you would want to know if you are an employer looking for talent.

Although the Monmouth University Hackathon is specific to solving problems through coding with teams of 2-3 students, and a limit of two teams per school, not all hackathons are structured that way.   For High School students in Monmouth County, who may want to dip their toe in the water, they should partner up with a classmate and give MU Hawk Hack a try. If you are a high school student who is taking computer science classes in school, let your teachers know about MU Hawk Hack. Reach out to Rolf Kamp to register your team.