Hacking marathon makes its in-person return

Students come together to create impactful technology solutions for pressing issues in just a day and a half. A group of people in pink HopHacks tee shirts - For 36 hours in Hodson Hall last month, student "hackers" fought to solve modern problems with their own software programs-and fought to keep their eyes open. In its popular biannual HopHacks event, the Johns Hopkins Department of Computer Science invited students hailing from across the country to compete in a 36-hour hackathon to create new technology solutions to various real-world problems of their choosing. This year, 147 students flocked to the university's Homewood campus in hopes of winning their share of the nearly $2,800 prize pool. For participants, HopHacks is a unique opportunity to explore the great world of computer science, with no previous programming experience required to compete. "HopHacks is a valuable experience because coding is something you learn by doing," said Curtis Ahn, HopHacks director and third-year student in computer science. "Even if you're not working on a project at the event, you get to attend workshops that are interactive and informative.