Hackathons
What is a hackathon?
In general, a hackathon is where people work in teams to solve interesting problems using minimal resources and maximum brain power. Teams are made up of diverse backgrounds and specialties to address problems in creative and novel ways. Our hackathons are generally focused on topics within the microbiome field. Teams will use principles from data science, computational biology, microbiology, statistics, and more to develop interesting questions and out-of-the-box solutions. At the end of the weekend, teams will present their work to a panel of judges and the top teams are awarded prizes!
During my time in graduate school, I have organized, hosted, and mentored at several hackathons. We have thus far hosted two hackathons since 2018 and have another one planned for the Spring of 2020. Leading up to the event each Spring semester, Prof. Ilana Brito, Dr. Alyssa Kent, and I lead a course (Cornell BME4905) to prepare students for the hackathon event. We introduce students to microbiome research, the experimental and computational methods within the field, and help the students to brainstorm ideas for the event.
Hackathon, 2020 – Coming soon!
- Date: March 13-15, 2020
- Location: eHub, Ithaca, NY
- More information, such as theme and registration coming soon!
The Microbiome Hack, 2019
- Date: April 13-14, 2019
- Location: eHub, Ithaca, NY
- MicrobiomeHack.org
The Microbiome Hack was focused on exposing undergraduate and graduate students from Cornell, Ithaca College, and more to data science, computational biology, and microbiome research. This was a fun and intense two-day event that culminated in group presentations and awards. Graduate and faculty mentors are available all weekend to assist students with their projects.
Health Tech Hackathon, 2018
- Date: March 2-4, 2018
- Location: eHub, Ithaca, NY
- Health Tech Hackathon website
The Brito Lab partnered with Cornell eShip to host a hackathon focused on human health with an entrepreneurial spirit. Projects fell into two catagories:
- Solving the antimicrobial resistance crisis
- Building sleep tracking solutions (sponsored by GSK)
