Recap: Toronto Youth Network’s InspireHacks

Winnie Lin
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

139 Attendees.

30 Teams.

6 Judges.

1 Goal.

On July 22, 2017, the community’s most innovative and ambitious youth gathered at the North York Civic Centre to participate in Toronto’s first ever student-led, one-day design Hackathon. Unlike typical hackathons that require coding knowledge, InspireHacks focused on the designing a solution rather than creating the technical software. This allowed and encouraged youth from all backgrounds to participate and explore the dynamic world of problem solving by creating apps and websites. Because the participants were like-minded and all hardworking youth, they were able to build connections and expand their professional network.

The day begun with Kaitlyn Yong’s presentation on “How to Hack Your Life,” where she elaborated on her experiences and inspired the audience to use their teenage years to dedicate all their time towards their passions.

Participants then had time to mingle and form teams. InspireHacks incited creativity as the theme was completely open-ended; teams needed to create an app or website that solved a problem of their choosing. Some ideas included a system to deploy drones with emergency medical supplies and a more efficient health-tracking app.

Once teams were formed, everyone started hacking! All the rooms were filled with chatter about different problems and possible solutions. Notes were being scribbled, and drafts were being sketched. Our amazing mentors (and judges) went around and posed thought-provoking questions to help develop each team’s ideas.

The participants were so hard at work that the only time they took a break was to grab a meal. A special thank you to Smash Kitchen & Bar, Tim Hortons, Starbucks, DavidsTea, and Costco Wholesale for providing a delicious breakfast and lunch that fueled the hackers throughout their long day.

To get the inspiration flowing after lunch, our second keynote speaker, David Kalman, took to the stage to recount his story of how his passion for tech led him to the influential position he is now in. Detailing his experiences in his unconventional education path and founding dHacks, he taught our audience, consisting of high school and university students, that putting hardwork and their heart and soul into their passions will reap professional rewards.

After several hours of hard work and designing, the teams were ready to pitch their ideas. With the strong diversity and creativity of all teams, it was a challenge for judges to narrow down the competition to five teams. These five teams then pitched their idea to the entire crowd in more detail. It was a close finish, but one team ended up on top. They received iPad Pros and spots at Canada’s largest hackathon, Hack the North.

As InspireHacks came to an end, it was clear countless new connections were built. InspireHacks provided a foundation for the world’s future innovators and leaders.

A huge thank you goes out to the six judges who contributed their time to make InspireHacks possible.

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