VIDEO: MSU Hack-A-Thon

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- For several teams of students at Mississippi State, “life hacks” are being found.

Motorized skateboards, cranes operated by muscle movements, and computerized mirrors are only a few of the things produced at the state inaugural competition.

These students caught the eyes of event sponsors and may have landed them a few job offers.

Inside the walls of the student union at Mississippi State, the future became the present for the state’s first ever Hackathon.

“It’s a 24 hour programming competition. Students from all across the southeast are coming and creating a program or a project of some sort, and then will present it within the 24 hours,” says Kourtney Atwell.

Two hundred students formed teams of up to four to test the limits of their imagination.

Tech companies see the potential in sponsoring an event like this.

“It’s just such a great event to see things like this popping up, and it’s so important not just for the state of Mississippi but also for universities all over the south to show all of the students coming together and showcasing what they’ve learned,” Shon Myatt.

When you think of hack, you’re first thought might be computers.

But the hacking this competition focuses on is everyday life.

“You’re trying to hack a problem. And so really it’s free for them to do whatever they want. So there’s one group that made a motorized skateboard; there’s one group that made a computerized mirror. Really, it’s up to your imagination whatever you want to do,” says Atwell.

Those are only a few of the inventions students came up with over their 24 hour period, and the results catch the eyes of who could future employers.

“The things that these kids are coming out with are just blowing my mind. I walk around the room, and they’re using all of these technologies out there in ways that I would never even consider it. Yeah. It’s really excited,” says Myatt.

The hackathon was sanctioned by Major League Hacking, which is the official student hackathon league.