2017 CBusStudent Hack WINNERS!

A team of central Ohio area leaders judged the students’ work, and winners were announced at a finale event on April 28, 2017. The judges were from the following central Ohio organizations: AT&T, Capital Crossroads and Discovery SIDS, Careworks Tech, Columbus Chamber, Current, Powered by GE, Discovery District Civic Association, Franklin University, Microsoft Premier Services, Nationwide Insurance, Ohio Attorney General, Replenish Spa, Rev1 Ventures, Tech Corps, Tech Elevator, Wendy’s, and White Castle Corporation.

The WINNERS:

  • First Place: Team Whooping Cranes from Thomas Worthington High School. They developed “Discovery On The Go,” a photo scavenger hunt app.

  • Second Place: Team Drop Tables– from Dublin Jerome High School. They developed “Discovery District: Connect,” an app to connect citizens, members of the public sector and service workers to more efficiently manage a neighborhood

  • Third Place: Team Kale from Upper Arlington High School. They developed “CBus Live!” an app to connect visitors with the Discovery District through user-submitted events.

  • Best Project Idea: Team Dvorak from Dublin Scioto High School. They developed “The Discovery District Discoverer,” an app to allow visitors to more easily get involved in the community.

  • Best Presentation: Team Rocket from Upper Arlington High School. They developed “Columbus Eats,” an app to allow visitors to share and like photos of food from Discovery District restaurants, incorporating promotions from the restaurants.

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  • Hacker’s Choice Award: Team Rocket from Upper Arlington High School also received the Hackers’ Choice Award from their peers in the competition.

The CBusStudentHack provides Columbus area high school students with 21st century skills via computer science education. Students develop creative solutions for real world problems. Their work helps prepare them for college and careers. Students used MIT App Inventor and Meteor to code and develop their own apps. The students were required to focus their apps on helping local residents get connected with the Columbus Downtown Discovery District.

Students met at the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) Main Library on April 28, 2017 to present their project ideas and hear from a panel of community judges. The students’ work was judged on software quality, the potential impact on the central Ohio region, execution and creativity.

“I’m very impressed by the abilities of these local students,” said State Representative Mike Duffey. “I congratulate the teams who developed the winning apps. Our entire community wins when these teens are provided with a great opportunity like this. They’re helping their neighbors, using science and technology.”

Participating central Ohio high schools included: Central Crossing High School, Dublin Jerome High School, Dublin Scioto High School, Eastland Career Center, Franklin Heights High School, Gahanna Lincoln High School, Grove City High School, MC2 STEM High School, Metro Institute of Technology, Reynoldsburg eSTEM Early College Academy, Reynoldsburg Health Sciences & Human Services STEM Academy, SWCS Accelerated Learning Center, Thomas Worthington High School, Upper Arlington High School, Westland High School, Whetstone High School, and Worthington Kilbourne High School.

In recognition of the students’ accomplishments, Franklin University introduced its $30,000 CBusStudentHack Scholarship, which is available to all 2017 CBusStudentHack participant who meet eligibility requirements.

“Computer and Information Sciences are driving innovations that affect how we work, play, and live. Despite a major tech talent shortage, CIS education remains marginalized in our schools,” said Franklin University Provost and Senior Vice President Dr. Christopher Washington. “AT&T and Franklin are partnering on CBusStudentHack as a way to jointly promote computer science education, prepare high school students for college and careers, and enable them to express their creativity and problem solving abilities.”

“AT&T has continuously been committed to the success of young people,” said AT&T Ohio President Adam Grzybicki. “By encouraging students in Columbus to learn to code and explore mobile app development we are spotlighting the enormous demand for developers and engineers needed to create the software that will drive our mobile economy.”

“Columbus Metropolitan Library is proud to have hosted the kick-off and finale for CBusStudentHack,” said Columbus Metropolitan Library CEO Patrick Losinski. “Our Main Library is located in the heart of the Discovery District, and so it’s a privilege to serve as a learning environment for students who are creating apps to help people explore this vibrant downtown neighborhood.”