WIMTACH Hosts First-Ever Virtual Hackathon in collaboration with Agincourt Business Services

For many small and medium-sized businesses, one of the biggest challenges throughout this ongoing pandemic has been accessing resources and services. At WIMTACH, we continue to adapt our services to virtual platforms to move forward with applied research projects, online training and other business development opportunities to best assist our clients and industry partners. One such service is WIMTACH’s famous hackathon.

Typically, WIMTACH’s hackathon events are hosted throughout the year. In hackathons, students support WIMTACH clients in providing comprehensive technical solution ideas to the problems faced by clients and industry partners. While we have not been able to host any in-person hackathons due to the pandemic, we have been able to adapt them to an online format to continue to showcase the hard work of our students and effectively assist our clients.

In April 2021, WIMTACH held its virtual hackathon with Agincourt Business Services. Agincourt Business Services was looking to create an engaging community for local individuals to sell their home-cooked meals, and to make the website compatible with the WIMTACH developed mobile application. In the 2-day hackathon with Agincourt, students demonstrated their creative ideas and development skills.

The 2-day hackathon consisted of two 8-hour sessions with four student groups participating. WIMTACH faculty and professors at Centennial College checked in with students throughout the event to see the progress of their work and provide encouragement. Representatives from Agincourt Business Services also checked in with the groups throughout the two days to ensure that their expectations and technical requirements were clearly outlined. By the second day, the four groups of students were ready to sell their work to the client as if they were a part of the company. Students were judged by not only the final product but their presentation and how well they sold their idea. This allowed students an opportunity to practice not only their development skills but also their communications and presentation skills in a natural work environment.

The hackathon provided Agincourt Business Services with access to the resources and services they required. It also provided students with essential skills for their future and allowed them to participate in a real-life project. We hope to continue this trend with more hackathons slated for the remainder of 2021. 

We implore all Centennial College technology students, 3D game designers, and story art creators to reach out if they are interested in participating in a future hackathon. Follow us on our social media pages for updates on future events, and keep an eye out for future hackathon stories.

For information about WIMTACH’s operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit: https://mailchi.mp/d9a20aac07f0/covid-19-update