By Kathy Hovis
Four hackathons this semester will offer opportunities for students to innovate creative solutions related to artificial intelligence, digital agriculture, animal health and human health. Two events will be on campus and two will take place in New York City.
The spring hackathons are:
- Animal Health, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, Schurman Hall, Cornell
- AI, Feb 7-9, Next Jump, New York City
- Digital Agriculture, Feb. 28-March 2, Schurman Hall, Cornell
- Health, March 7-9, Next Jump, New York City
Students can apply to attend any of the hackathons here.
Entrepreneurship at Cornell sponsors the events, in partnership with Cornell colleges, and departments and outside corporate sponsors.
The animal health event will bring together students from across campus — veterinary, business, engineering, design, CS, the humanities and more— to create solutions to needs in veterinary health care. Teams will consider solutions in several challenge areas, including shortages in the vet professions, high volume testing and case backlogs, among others. Partners for the event include the Cornell Center for Veterinary Business and Entrepreneurship and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
All of the hackathons follow a similar format -- students form teams during facilitated meetings before the weekend, then gather starting Friday evening for a kickoff event and workshop. Teams work throughout Saturday to refine their ideas and their pitches, with the help of dozens of mentors, including faculty, staff, industry partners and alumni. Sunday features demos by each team, with prize money awarded to winners.
The AI event, new this year, will focus on the applications, considerations and advantages of AI in academia. Areas of focus will include AI for administration, for teachers, for medical education enhancement and for personalized learning experiences.
“I’m excited about the collaborative environment the hackathon fosters, bringing together the higher education community with their submitted challenges, talented students and a fantastic group of mentors,” said Ayham Boucher, head of AI Innovations for both Cornell Information Technologies (CIT) on the Ithaca campus and Information Technologies & Services (ITS) at Weill Cornell Medicine. ”It’s not just about building solutions; it’s about creating a space where creativity and knowledge collide to tackle meaningful problems.”
Partners for the AI event include the Cornell AI Initiative, Cornell Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, Cornell Tech, the Weill Cornell Clinical and Translational Science Center and the Artificial Intelligence Club at Cornell.
The Digital Agriculture hackathon in March will focus on five main areas: data-driven, human-centric digital ag solutions; circular agrifood systems and economy; controlled environmental agriculture; climate-smart agriculture and harnessing digital ag for One Health. Entrepreneurship at Cornell partners with the Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture on this event every year.
“The Cornell Digital Agriculture Hackathon brings students and trainees from all over North America in varied disciplines: engineers, business students, veterinarians, plant biologists and others, all focused on food sustainability, improving the lives of humans and animals and protecting the environment,” said Parminder S. Basran, associate research professor & medical physicist at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine. “These hackathon experiences simulate real-world teamwork under time constraints, often providing an everlasting experience for students. The experience also connects industry leaders with students and faculty, creating a healthy and fun space for exchanging ideas and exploring potential collaborations.”
The last hackathon of the semester focuses on human health and is put together in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson. Teams of medical, business, engineering, data science, developers and design students will work to create solutions to improve healthcare. They’ll focus on processes, procedures, diagnostics, treatment and other areas using hardware or software.
All of the New York City events take place at Next Jump, a company offering leadership development and decision-making training for corporations, government agencies and non-profits.
“We support Cornell’s NYC-based hackathons in our office because we believe in the power of creativity and human potential,” said Charlie Kim, Co-CEO of Next Jump. “We’ve seen first-hand the positive impact these events have on our community and are proud to be part of them.”
For more information about the hackathons and to apply, visit the Hackathon website.
Source : cornell.edu