C2SMART co-sponsored the SunCity Hack, hosted at UTEP the weekend of April 26-28 and organized by the university’s Computer Science Department. C2SMART PI Kelvin Cheu and affiliated faculty Natalia Villanueva Rosales and Jeffrey Weidner were involved with the event, attracted eight teams of five students from engineering and computer science majors at UTEP. Each team was tasked with conceiving and developing a demo for an app, then had five minutes to present the idea, their solution and demo in front of a panel of judges made up of UTEP faculty, representatives from event sponsor Microsoft, and the City of El Paso.

First place was awarded for an app for reporting and providing information about ADA-compliant infrastructure and businesses. Another team earned second place for an app designed for visitors to El Paso, and third place was awarded for an app to help drivers find parking in downtown El Paso. Other ideas presented at the hackathon included apps to match seniors with volunteers to move trash bins on collection days, to provide navigation by the safest route, and to match volunteers with events and non-profit organizations.