ECE Alumna New Director for Fifth Annual OHI/O Hackathon

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Julia Armstrong
As the fifth-annual flagship HackOHI/O event kicks off this weekend at The Ohio State University, it is the first time an electrical and computer engineering alumna is taking charge.

Julia Armstrong, the new program director for OHI/O, is running the event for the first time. With past experience in education, non-profits, and engineering, Armstrong said taking the position was a nice fit.

“This job came open and it was the right mix of all my backgrounds,” she said. “[The hackathon is] to showcase how technology supports every industry.”

Held at the Ohio Union, the free two-day event allows nearly 750 students –mostly from the Midwest – to collaboratively design, build and solve typically tech-based projects from provided industry resources.

Problematic scenarios dealing with topics like water, mobility and equal-pay will be given to students as a basis for the project they choose to conduct. 

With the help of student clubs, such as The Electronics Club, organizers encouraged several corporate sponsorships to cover all the costs for the event, including food and resources. Just five years in, the OHI/O hackathon is already well-respected in the Midwest. 

“The students really helped make this happen,” Armstrong said. "This is really the 'golden standard' for hackathons in the region.”

Armstrong also hopes the event educates the community on the technological talents at Ohio State.

“The community [can] realize that we have this technical workforce pipeline coming out of Ohio State, and I don’t know if everybody knows that,” she said.

The hackathon is open to the public on Sunday, Oct. 22 when students present their projects to two sets of judges. Judging begins at 11 a.m.

For more information on the hackathon visit:

http://hack.osu.edu/2017/#home-back 

Story by ECE Student Public Relations Writer, Lydia Freudenberg