Deltahacks II: All the Things We’ve Built
It has been a mad week. Many of us have likely spent the past couple days sleeping vigorously, desperately catching up with schoolwork, reminding family members that we are still alive, and drinking Soylent because no one has time for chewing. Our director Jimmy, at the 36th hour, has even taken to the rare pursuit of yelling at walls (although he probably won’t remember).
Deltahacks II occurred exactly one week ago. At this point, we would like to take a moment to celebrate and congratulate you for everything you have accomplished. The event yielded a total of over 50 project submissions, including everything from stock analyzers to fire balls. Each of the projects were technically challenging, original, and wildly impressive in their own right.
How much social change can be designed in less than 36 hours?
Well, let’s have a look. Below are three projects in particular which have particularly blown us (and the judges) away.
George Plukov, Ben Miller, and Eric Field built a multi-device wireless network of sensors to track water levels, storm surges, and earthquake activity that snagged second place. In addition to being more cost effective than the current systems being used, flood watch also eliminates the need for people to travel to remote locations because the devices can relay information to one another via a network system. The idea helps provide experts with real-time information about natural systems as well as potentially life-saving updates.
Our third place and Booth School of Engineering Prize for Most Innovative or Entrepreneurial Idea winner thought of a simple and elegant way to simultaneously address two pressing problems in society: hunger and food waste. The Dana Network is an iOS app which connects conscious consumers, restaurants, and charities, by rewarding restaurants who consent to donating excess food with free promotion and event marketing via the dana network, allowing them to fill non-peak hours with socially-aware customers. As a result, food is redirected from land fills and into hungry stomaches. The team behind the project have proposed actions steps to implement their innovation in the city of Hamilton.
Web-Based FAI Diagnosis Assistant
Mushfiqur Rahman, Hassan Muhammad, and Stephen Murray worked alongside a McMaster orthopediatrician to design a web-app that uses x-ray images to diagnose femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) through image-recognition algorithms. FAI is a very recently described disorder that has been increasingly diagnosed in young patients. Their project was not only challenging and well-executed, but also addresses a technical need of real physicians while remaining both cost-effective and feasible. Subsequently, we were proud to announce them the Best Project in Healthcare and the winner of Deltahacks 2.
But seriously, this is only the tip of the iceberg. All of the projects were incredible. Take a look here at the 53 other brilliant submissions from the weekend.
But now that the exhibition tables have been stacked, the hackers have gone back into hibernation, and the event is over, it’s pertinent to bring up an infamous race between a tortoise and a hare. Do not stop hacking just because there is no hackathon. Hacking is more of an attitude than a 36 hour event. It’s about finding the pieces in the world that are broken or incomplete and putting something together far greater than the sum of its parts. Continue with what you have started and keep dreaming of new, bigger, better ideas. Continue being the Delta.
We are so proud of all the things you have built.
Much Love,
Deltahacks/HackitMac
