This year marks MetroHacks’ third annual hackathon for female students, providing completely free and open opportunities for girls aged 13-18 regardless of experience levels.
In light of the recent pandemic, the third annual MetroHacks Hackathon will transition to a virtual event.
Solving real-world problems is the purpose of hackathons. Amidst the chaos and uncertainties cast by the COVID-19 pandemic, we aim to bring the MetroHacks community together to identify problems that have emerged in this crisis and take the initiative to solve them using innovation, technology, and compassion. Through this effort, MetroHacks is also devoted to bringing more female students into the STEM fields.
Students will acquire a deeper understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic, learn about various technologies through several webinar workshops, collaborate and create projects with team members across the country, and compete for prizes. The event is completely free and open to all high school girls regardless of expertise!
MetroHacks Women Virtual
Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 24th, 5PM - 7PM | April 25th, Full Day (opening at 10AM)
About MetroHacks Women
Tracks
The pandemic poses challenges in virtually every aspect of our lives, from distance learning to quarantine and social isolation. It would be helpful, therefore, to identify a field you are passionate to work in and dedicate your energy to resolving specific problems within that area. Here are the three that we suggest:
Medical
Hack a project that directly aids the COVID-19 patients, their families, or those working tirelessly in the healthcare industry to look after us all! This can cover patient monitoring outside a clinic, early diagnosis, effective techniques to prevent infection, lower the infection risk for healthcare workers, and many more possibilities! Projects in this track generally ensure the physical well-being of users or help medical professionals in some way.
Social
Devise a project that leverages technology to improve our community, government or society in this difficult time. Develop an app or code up a website - use your creativity and talents to urge people to take civic responsibility into their own hands. This can be finding more creative ways to urge people to strictly follow social distancing guidelines and wash their hands, helping isolated individuals or households to stay connected with each other, exploring safer ways to get groceries, even aiding victims of domestic violence since we are required to be home more now.
Education
While distance learning might mean you can stay in bed for your morning classes, it can be a great challenge for many. Use your hacking skills to improve the accessibility and quality of education! Keep in mind that education can mean more than formal schooling: obtaining truthful, timely, and easily understandable information about COVID-19 and government policies, learning how to best sterilize yourself and belongings after going to crowded places, or skills that are not taught in schools that can be learned at home like budgeting, etc. - these are all necessary types of education for us right now. You can reflect on the past weeks of online learning and try to make it better; devise products for those without constant internet access to keep learning and stay informed; connect information across the globe to provide more wholistic reports on the virus, etc. Be creative! :)
Schedule
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April 24th, 2020
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Welcome & Introduction
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
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Connecting with your team; hacking begins!
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
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April 25th, 2020 pt. I
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Hacking Begins
10:00 AM
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Opening Ceremony
Dr. Francine Berman
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
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1A: Am I “hacking” the right thing or “hacking” the thing right?
Dr. Newton de Faria
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
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1B:
Dr. Kathi Hoebel
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
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2A:
Ms. Lesley D. Skenderian
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
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2B:
Dr. Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
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April 25th, 2020 pt. II
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3A:
Ms. Mara Preotescu
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
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3B: An Introduction to Derivatives
Dr. John Bryk
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
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4: How data analytics can help you solve real-life questions
Ms. Annie Xu
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM
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Submission deadline, dinner break
6:00 PM
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Awards and Closing Ceremony
Ms. Amy Grace
7:00 PM
Communications
Speakers
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Dr. Francine Berman
Dr. Francine Berman is the Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is a Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and a Fellow of the IEEE. In 2009, Dr. Berman was the inaugural recipient of the ACM/IEEE-CS Ken Kennedy Award for "influential leadership in the design, development, and deployment of national-scale cyberinfrastructure." In 2015, Dr. Berman was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become a member of the National Council on the Humanities.
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Dr. Newton de Faria
Dr. Newton de Faria is Professor of Practice and Director of the Masters of Engineering Program at Cornell Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering. His current focus is on the education of future leaders and innovators that are passionate for improving the well-being of humans and with potential for learning and applying principles of business and engineering towards the identification of unmet needs and the creation of innovative technologies capable of addressing these needs. Before Cornell, Dr. de Faria spent two decades at National Instruments Corporation fulfilling the mission of "equipping engineers and scientists with tools that accelerate productivity, innovation, and discovery". He has consulted with a broad range of industries, clinical, and academic institutions. He developed strong business acumen and insight into the healthcare industry technological trends and global market dynamics. He also acquired deep knowledge in the areas of software, hardware, design processes, quality management, and regulations throughout the total product life cycle of medical technologies. Dr. de Faria has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Universidade de Brasilia-Brazil, a master’s degree in electrical engineering also from the Universidade de Brasilia-Brazil, and a doctorate degree in biomedical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.
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Dr. Kathi Hoebel
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Ms. Lesley Skenderian
M.S. in Science Education, University of St. Joseph B.S. Business Management, University of South Florida Science teacher, Director of Domestic InterMission, Miss Porter’s School Lesley is an accomplished educator and school leader who has ignited a passion for science in high school students and especially, girls. She is an ardent proponent of bringing biotechnology applications into the classroom and enjoys learning alongside her students.
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Dr. Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer
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Ms. Mara Preotescu
Mara works with Advanced Analytics, Data and AI Architecture as a Sr. Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft. She is a big advocate and promoter of Continuous Innovation, Research, AI, New & emerging technology evaluation, New concepts integration, New data solutions, and Technology trend analysis.
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Dr. John Bryk
Dr. John Bryk has been teaching mathematics and computer science at Miss Porter's School since 2018. Prior to teaching at independent high schools, he was a professor in the Mathematics Department at John Jay College in New York. He did his graduate work in mathematics at Rutgers University, and his research interests included algebraic and analytic number theory. He has a purely academic interest in the mathematics of finance--don't ask him for any investment tips!
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Ms. Annie Xu
Annie is a Senior Cloud Solution Architect working for Microsoft. She is goal-driven, methodical, and performance-focused professional, offering comprehensive experience in a wide-range and complex Microsoft Azure Big Data and business intelligence solutions; encompassing requirements gathering, architecture designing, BI infrastructure development, information engineering, cloud computing, and process automation. Feel free to check on her personal tech blogs: xuanalytics.com
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Ms. Amy Grace
Amy is a Fellow in Applied Data Science at Collins Aerospace. Her goal is to lead a Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) organization that enhances customer experience and creates a market differentiator for Collins Aerospace. It's my passion to ignite interest in engineering in young people--particularly young women--by proving to them what an exciting career Engineering can be.
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