5 Things I Learned During a 24 Hour Hackathon
Imagine giving over 500 curious teens 24-hours to solve any world problem.
All hands would be on deck, all network connections would be put to the test and all desks would be full of burning hot laptops!
Well, this is exactly what happened at a small place called TKS less than a week ago.
Wait…What?
Essentially, teens from all over the world came together into smaller teams by combining similar areas of expertises and took part in a Global Hackathon.
Hold on, teens?
When stereotyped, teens spend their time on TikTok and cram in last minute assignments.
But now, we have 17 year olds that are using quantum computing to help with nitrogen fixation. Or, 15 year olds using AI for in depth cancer research.
Crazy to think that these all came out of one problem statement:
Create an innovative solution to a real problem using depth of knowledge from your Focus topics.
(Focus = area of expertise)
My team — Molly, Aneeva, Kayan, Rianna — and I used nanotechnology to solve soil contamination.
Now, this solution didn’t come as easy as it may sound, in fact we started from a box carbon capture device and turned it into a spiral structured soil contamination collector device.
Crazy, right?
Well, finding this solution, making it to the finals and then presenting at the finals in front of a panel of judges wasn’t so clear cut, in fact, I learned a boat load of things during the process, check them out below!
1. Logistics = Beforehand
Prior to the hackathon kick-off, we knew that the kick-off would start at 6 PM on Friday and end at 5 PM on Saturday and then we would find out by Saturday night the finalist teams and then have the finalist presentations on Sunday morning.
My team and I met a week prior to the start to get ourselves organized.
Pro tip: create a notion page with all the logistical stuff!
We figured out our respective roles, spaced out our time and added important links!
Check out our notion page here.
2. Break. It. Down.
A lot of the time, it’s really easy to get caught up in the ideas and to create a “cool and unique solution.”
If you’ve ever done a hackathon, I guarantee you’ve said or heard those words at least 5 times.
The crazy part is, a lot of solutions tend to be unique and interesting, but it’s all about backing up your solution and understanding the science or tech behind it, which in turn, will allow you to break it down.
For example, we originally went from the carbon capture box to a soil contamination box and decided our plan of action by breaking it out.
After researching and solving these broken down components, the original solution is subject to change and this is what brings us onto our next takeaway 👇
3. Don’t just talk theory, do something.
Once you research and figure out the science or tech behind the solution, it’s important to create something and use your creativity.
For this hackathon, we spent quite a bit of time on discussing the carbon capture half of our solution but weren’t getting anywhere since we were merely talking.
So, we decided to get out the old drawing skills and pull out a jamboard.
Drew. Discussed. Decided.
And after much research and deliberation, we came up with this.
Out of doing something, we actually created a solution and it wasn’t all research papers and statistics.
But … those things are still important.
4. Validate
One of if not the most important thing to do!
Talking to industry professionals, finding real patents and ensuring that your solution is actually backed up by proof is essential.
For example, we had a patent that used part of our solution and was successful which was some of the greatest validation and proof we could’ve received.
However, when creating a solution which has nothing identical out in the real world, getting an insight on what industry professionals think is a huge aspect to seeing if your ideas works!
My team and I reached out to the CEO and Founder of Summit Nanotech (P.S. she’s incredible) and gained some tips and validation from her.
5. Build something sick and go crazy.
When you think of a hackathon, you think of staying up, working hard and winning. But, it’s a lot more than that.
The knowledge you gain, the skills you practice and the fun you have is incomparable to any other experiences!
My team and I put our nanotechnology knowledge to the test, tested the skills of making pitch videos, presenting, making high standards slide decks and even creating a one pager in the span of 30 minutes.
Above all, we came up with a sick solution to a world problem in one day! We had fun. Died of laughter. Shared over 100 yawns and bonded over countless things.
Long story short: grab some friends, find a hackathon and crush it.
