Preview: MakeOHI/O 2018

From the OHI/O Informal Learning Program comes this year's biggest and best hardware event at The Ohio State University.

MakeOHI/O 2018 is a 24-hour hardware-oriented hackathon where students come together to create something amazing and present new technology in front of tech companies, faculty and peers. The event is part of the parent group OHI/O, which also puts on events such as the upcoming HighSchool I/O and ShowOHI/O, all geared toward fostering a growing tech culture at Ohio State and beyond.

Learn how everyone is banding together this year to help a girl and her dog as one of the makeathon challenges. 

MakeOHI/O is free to register, on a Feb. 20 deadline, with free food and over $1,000 in prizes awarded.

In 2017, the event featured new student-created technology, such as a solar powered self-watering plant feeder, the ultimate decked-out cooler, the LED bike navigation system, even a color-coded Skittles sorter.

Read the event recap HERE.

Watch a video recap HERE.

Find pictures from the event HERE. 

"You don’t need to have any hardware or software experience or materials - just come with a cool idea," organizers said. "No need to have a team to sign up; team formation events will be available before and at the event. Faculty, staff and alumni encouraged to register as mentors and judges."

A Makeathon is similar to a Hackathon. Both are events where participants build projects from scratch in just a few short hours. Both are also 24 or 36 hour events.

"The difference between a MAKEathon and a HACKathon is that we are encouraging projects to be hardware oriented, and therefore physically making something," organizers explained.

For more information visit the MakeOHI/O website.  

Teams register HERE.

Judges register HERE.