top of page
Keet Malin Sugathadasa

Hackathons


What is a Hackathon?

A hackathon is a competition where coders and programmers get together and do some development in order to solve a burning problem in the society. Even though this concept started as a software development process, it was later expanded into other areas like graphic designing, marketing, presentation skills, finance handling, project management and so on. Most of these hackathons are based on a specific domain or an area of expertise that should be reached by the competitors taking part in it. Nowadays, technologies like IoT (Internet of Things), Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are actually hitting the market because these technologies are fairly new to the general public.

Most hackathons go on for a time period between one day to three days, and in between there are sessions being carried out by different mentors and tech heads. There are also special games, song sessions and other similar entertainment events happening just to keep the morale high of the competitors competing in hackathons. At the end of the day, the sole intention is to create a product that will provide the perfect solution to the ongoing problems in the industry.

The word hackathon is made up from the two words, "HACK" + "MARATHON". Hacking in this context is not referred to as the computer crime that we see today in the market, but the hacking of technology that is available today to provide the optimal solution for the problem being addressed. The word marathon implies a race of coding where programmers have to do the coding like a marathon so that they can achieve their expected results within a given period of time.

Wanna take part in hackathons? Read this blog.

Types of Hackathons

There are many types of hackathons happening around the world which could be broadly categorized as National and International. All these hackathons serve a purpose for the people who are organizing it, as well as the people who are competing in it. Some of the major types of hackathons that we see today in the industry are given below.

Coding Competitions

These competitions are very famous around the world and people with good algorithmic skills and mathematical skills have a better chance of winning in these competitions. These competitions have a very strict time period of like 6 hours, 8 hours or 24 hours where a set of problems are presented in front of the competitors to solve using their algorithmic knowledge with a selected programming language.

These questions given are constrained by various time factors and the solution to these problems are needed to be very optimal to handle large scale executions on the solutions. These are called "Test Cases" where each of these test cases are run using the solution provided to ensure that they all pass the test cases available. Fields like space optimization, time optimization and data structures come in handy because using the correct type of these fields will determine whether it will pass the given test case or not.

There is no judging mechanism in these competitions where as the winner is selected by the points allocated to each solution. Points are being allocated to each solution by checking whether each test case is passed. Sometimes they use weights like probability of success and the number of attempts to ensure a much more strict point mechanism.

Technological Competitions

These competitions mainly target to teach a new technology to the competitors or to brand one of the new technologies introduced by the organizing company. The sole purpose of this is to let competitors build new products that do not exist in the market and provide a solution to a demanding problem in the society.

Points for these kinds of competitions are accumulated through the technologies being used and how big the problem being addressed is. The selection of the winners will be done by a panel of judges where as the presentation of the product should be seamless and eye catchy to catch the attention of the judges in front of you. The technology being used is also a driving factor which would amaze the audience and the judges to give additional points towards your product. As long as the problem being addressed is relevant and huge, the traction created by it will definitely become a point for the judges to think about.


Technological Competitions bring out innovation, fast thinking, presentation skills and many other skills required to drive through the period of the competition. These competitions are mostly being held for a period of 24 hours or so, where as the problem being addressed is mostly picked by the competitors themselves.

Social Innovation Competitions

These competitions are similar to "Technological Competitions" whereas these address issues which are burning problems in the society. For example, issues like land slides, traffic analysis, floods, poverty, hospital systems and so on. The impact of these issues are mostly very immense and demanding where as it gives a very psychological factor to everyone involved in the problem.

The purpose of these competitions is to pass out a message to the society and figure out a way to use technology to solve these social issues. The point system in these competitions are similar to that of "Technological Competitions" and it also consists of a panel of judges at the end who will select the winner out of all the competitors.

These competitions can sometimes be based on certain geographical locations, communities and societies. Nevertheless the purpose is to fulfill the needs of the society with the help of new technology and innovation. Products related to medical arena fall under this category. Products built under this category always have a very huge impact and would catch the eye of non-government organizations, who are willing to spend money and effort on social impacts of the country.

Startup Competitions

These competitions are also known as "Business Concept Competitions" whereas the sole purpose is to bring in new ideas and products, and push them into new start up companies to encourage your entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. These competitions are happening all around the world and new startups are being introduced into the industry every year. Nowadays we can see many startups turning out to be multi billion dollar companies and dominating the market like no other. What it really takes is the commitment, guts, risks and passion to take your very own product forward.

There are many startups that fall to the ground because of loss and other reasons. But all of them learn a lesson which should be looked upon before taking a new step in your career. Some startup companies start as product to cater a certain industry, and with time it turns out to be an entirely different company, deviating from the initial plan.

These competitions are being judged by investors and experienced personnel from the industry and they look into aspects like finances, marketing, the market traction and other related areas. At the end of these competitions, the judges will pick a winner and invest in that company so as to bring it forth as a startup company. Sometimes there are investors in the audience and they tend to pick some of the products if they see a true a potential in it and its team.

Game Development Competitions

These are not competitions where you play on multiplayer with a set of friends and compete with or against each other. This category implies the development of computer and mobile games, where it has a very high potential of going into the industry if the game is very attractive and addictive. Building games like this is very hard and it takes a lot of time and patience for one to sit and think through the levels of the game and make it really attractive for the player to get addicted to it.

These competitions usually happen with the help from big companies whereas they sponsor at the beginning itself to take the game forward with graphic designs and related materials. The time period mostly spans over months since, they all go through a proposal stage, development stage, competition stage and final pitches. This flow of events could change depending on various similar events. At the end of the competitions. the winners and other participants get cash prizes (mostly) and necessary support to develop the game. The panel of judges are mostly business executives and graphic designers.

The games being developed in these competitions are mostly mobile, but some are PC games which would take a huge time to be developed. The team should consist of graphic designers, platform developers (android, iOS, windows etc), sound system experts and level designers. In terms of the final pitches, the judges would not give much emphasis on presentations, since most of the presentation time would be taken to do the demonstration of the game.

Internal Hackathons

These are hackathons which happen within a certain organization to ensure that privacy of information is preserved during the time of hackathon. These hackathons are organized with relation to a product within the organization or related to the organization. The problem it is trying to solve will be something like, "how to improve the existing system" or "how to upgrade the system" or "what else can be done to this set of data" etc.

These are hackathons which are publicized only within the organization and almost all of the competitors are from the same organization. Everything that happens within the competition will be kept private and the organizing team will inform the competitors about the most sensitive data so that they will not expose it to the general public. The panel of judges will be from within the organization and the pitching will be done within the organization itself.

The judging criteria will mostly be based on innovation, how does it drive money into the company, usage of limited resource, feasibility of implementation and feasibility in marketing. Sometimes these competitions are open to the general public, but even thought it looks like a normal hackathon, the final intention is to get some benefits for the company.

Why take part in Hackathons?

There are plenty of reasons on why we should take part in hackathons. Following are the main identified reasons and it is very important to look into each of the topics and identify what kind of an impact each section can make on you and your career.

Competitive Industry

Software Engineering is a very competitive industry. We see that qualified software developers and unqualified home practiced software developers coming into the industry with an equal contribution and dominating the arena. Since software engineering is a very open industry, many other industries also influence this industry. Electronics, chemical, bio medical, mechanical, civil and almost every other industry tries to influence and affect the competitive software industry. Due to this reason the job market has to be increased and the demand for quality software engineers has gone up.

Therefore it is important to have the upper hand when competing in this job market. Having done hackathons shows people how competitive you are and how well you can manage your time and work at the same time. People who take part and win in hackathons and other similar competitions are seen as innovators who strive at nothing but perfection and most of the employers prefer engineers who have extra talent over the others.

Out of the box thinking

Competing in hackathons is not a very easy task. You need to come up with new ideas, new technologies and creative thinking. A person who competes in hackathons normally has this "out of the box thinking" ability because he or she has to go through a lot of thinking processes to get a final product successful at the end of the hackathon.

At the beginning, middle and the end of the competition, the competitors need to go through a lot of thinking and planning and due to these reasons, the creative thinking abilities of the competitors increase. You can never compete in a hackathon by stealing someone else's idea. Therefore, for you to compete in a hackathon, you need to come up with a new and original idea which has a great impact on the problem being addressed.

Industry Exposure/ Networking

During the time of the hackathon and at the end of the hackathon, you will come across many developers, investors and tech giants in the industry where you can communicate and expand your network to other interested areas in the industry. The more you take part in hackathons, the more

exposure you get towards the individuals in the industry. There is a high possibility of you meeting some important characters at a hackathon and meeting them again in another hackathon. Who knows, you might even meet one of them at your next job interview. Therefore in a very competitive industry like this, it is very important to build your network and keep everyone's contact in your pocket.

Self Branding

As mentioned above, the computer industry is a very competitive industry. To stand out from the crowd, you always need to gain that upper hand or the plus points so that you can always say that

you are a better competitor than the other person when everyone is competing for jobs around the same industry. A person who takes parts in hackathons gets a lot of exposure to the industry and people start to talk to you in the hackathon team names most of the time. Once you get a self brand for yourself, the word spreads like a virus. The next time you go for a conference, take part in a competition or even when you go for a job interview, there is a high probability of people knowing you by your name or face. Always ensure that you have these extra points in your CV to compete against other people who are applying to the same job as yours.

Gain Technical Knowledge and Soft Skills

When you take part in hackathons, you will come across many workshops and learning sessions where you can gain a lot of knowledge on technical skills as well as soft skills. Knowing your technical stuff is very important when you take part in hackathons. Likewise, the soft skills of the competitors also play a vital role, since the soft skills is what actually will decide whether the product you built will win the hackathon or not.

You may feel like taking part in hackathons will waste my time and effort if I don't win anything. That's the wrong mentality that everyone has, because after a hackthon you will be able to learn and gain a lot of knowledge and experience with respect to the work you have carried out. The way the judges will ask you questions, is similar to the way some interviewers ask you questions and it is always important to gain these skills before hand to show a greater competition when you enter the industry as an individual.

Gifts and Cash prizes

Whenever you take part in hackathons, you are assured that you will always receive gifts from the organizing committee. Therefore it is always a win win situation when you consider all these aspects. If you win one of the hackathons, the cash price or gifts that you will receive is immense. Therefore keep an eye for all these competitions and make sure to grab all of those prizes.

Cheers!

Wanna take part in hackathons? Read the following blog.

 

90 views0 comments
bottom of page