MHacks is Returning for its Fifth Hackathon

MHacks is gearing up for their 5th hackathon, which will take place January 16th-18th, 2015 on University of Michigan’s North Campus. Over 1,000 students from 267 schools will be represented at this 36 straight hour event to think big, collaborate, and produce creative projects. MHacks is organized by two U-M student groups, the Michigan Hackers and MPowered Entrepreneurship. The hackathon is also a part of Major League Hacking, which is a community-run organization that supports over 40 hackathons across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

During the event, students team up with other like-minded individuals to work on new websites, applications, and hardware, and on Sunday, January 18th, students will demo what they have created science fair style to the public.

MHacks also brings in top engineers and product managers from across the country as mentors and supplies the newest technology and tools (3D sensing tablets, Google Glass, augmented reality technology, etc.) for its participants. Each year, new additions are made based on past participants’ feedback, which ensures that every MHacks is more incredible than the last.

In the past, projects have received worldwide attention with some being featured on Engadget, Fast Co Design, IBTimes of India, The Verge, and Forbes. There have also been a number of notable speakers at the hackathons including Sam Altman the president of Y Combinator, Alex Ohanian the founder of Reddit, and Rick Snyder the Governor of Michigan.

Last year at MHacks IV, there were numerous projects that showcased the creativity and intelligence of the hackers.  The grand prize winner was the Power Glove 2.0 created by Daniel Kim and Jennings Jin.  The Power Glove is a virtual reality system that focuses on finger and hand movement interaction with the computer. This system targets gamers who are searching for cheaper and reliable virtual reality hardware.

The second place winner was Android for All, created by Sri Bande, Michael Huang, and Thomas Deegan. Their goal was to run Android apps on iOS, but they went beyond their goal and ran the latest Android system on an iPhone.

The third place winner was the Super Smash Bros. 64 Kinect Controller by Eric Hahn, Conor Patrick, and Jacob Yacovelli. Instead of playing the game with controllers the hackers used two Microsoft Kinect cameras to capture the users’ specific movements and to watch both players battle each other in the game.

MHacks is a great way for participants to showcase their creativity, while also having the opportunity to meet future co-founders, friends, and network with well-known companies. MHacks V will be just as great as the past 4 hackathons, and the Michigan community is looking forward to seeing the lastest string of imaginative projects.