Akarsh Kosanam (center) and Manoj Vuppuluri (right) well into a 24-hour hackathon.

Wanted: Wizard skills. Water bottles. Working Internet. Worthy cause.

Last month three of the graduate assistant (GA) software developers in Technology Services – Student Affairs participated in TAMUhack 2022, a 24-hour challenge to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems. The student-run event is one of the largest hackathons in Texas every year.

The Urban Dictionary offers this definition for the verb “hack”:

1. To program a computer in a clever, virtuosic, and wizardly manner. Ordinary computer jockeys merely write programs; hacking is the domain of digital poets. Hacking is a subtle and arguably mystical art, equal parts wit and technical ability, that is rarely appreciated by non-hackers.

Digital poet: Data-driven. Domain knowledge. Dedicated creator. Dynamic impact.

Akarsh Kosanam’s team designed a tool to match individuals having extra food supplies with those in need. “I like having a project that will help the community,” he says.

Manoj Vuppuluri adds, “It’s not what we generally do, having to make a working product in just 24 hours.” His team created an interactive tool that applies machine learning to a user’s profile to offer better insurance rates based on predicted coverage costs.

Rohit Sah (left) and his team were winners in a category to encourage good financial behavior.

Rohit Sah’s team was a winner in a challenge category sponsored by an investment management firm. The award honored hacks that encourage good financial behavior and help to set individuals up for success in meeting their financial goals. The team developed an interactive simulation game that uses real-world data to show the progress over multiple days and months as you buy and sell stocks. The team took examples from fantasy league games and Football Manager which simulates football market buying patterns.

Application of their skills is not limited to one weekend in January. Since starting in September, the exceptional GA developers have been enhancing a number of specialized applications Technology Services – Student Affairs supports for its customers.

  • The Big Event – Improvements for the volunteer, job, and tool management application as The Big Event prepares to add to the more than a million service hours logged by Aggies as they have shown their appreciation to the local community for the past 40 years.
  • Cadet Weather – A new application to automatically update the cadet website every hour based on current conditions including heat stress temperature to direct weather-appropriate activity levels. Previously, this had to be manually updated throughout the day, every day.
  • SGA Voting – Working with the election commissioner to support a voter incentive initiative for the upcoming student body elections.
  • StuAct Online – Improvements to better track credits for special training completed by student leaders.
  • Get Involved – Import of data that will be used to automate eligibility checking of advisors for recognized student organizations to replace a manually intensive process.
  • Fish Camp – Improvement of a tool used to assign newly selected counselors to the many freshman orientation camps hosted in late summer.
  • Clery Act – Improvements for a compliance tool including automation to authorize current student organization advisors as campus security authorities.

Shreya Kalwa is also a big part of this GA team, enhancing the Clery Act application. She really enjoys the opportunity to interact with customers directly and to appreciate their needs better. This leads to a higher quality software product. Too often in the industry developers are isolated from customers as all communication is routed through intermediate channels.

“We all have prior experience in the corporate environment. In Technology Services – Student Affairs we don’t have to stop building on that experience while we pursue a degree before returning to the corporate world,” says Shreya.

Manoj concurs, “In Technology Services – Student Affairs we are using the Agile methodology of project management that we generally don’t see in part-time tech jobs. Friends working in other departments on campus don’t get to use the cutting-edge technologies we get to use here.”

This experience is paying off. All of our GAs have already received summer internship offers from the likes of Google, Facebook, HP, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, Paycom, and more.

What motivates them to be wizards in the work they deliver? Just like at the hackathon, they point to a supportive work environment that provides opportunities to help others. “The customer-centric products that we are making are exciting for us,” exclaims Manoj.

Rohit adds, “Especially when so many of the customers are students like us!”

Success: Solution deployed. Satisfied customers. Students served. Some sleep.

Enhancing value for our customers. That’s what we’re about. Ask how we can help you!

 

For more information about the innovative hackathon projects, visit the TAMUhack 2022 Project Gallery