2023 Hackathon Recap

PioSolve Hackathon Recap

February 18, 2023

On Saturday, February 18, 2023, six teams of students competed in PioSolve, the first multidisciplinary hackathon at Marietta College. During the 10-hour competition, students explored the root causes of a social problem and designed feasible solutions to the problem and made presentations before five judges.

The competition started at 8 am with the selection of the teams and the statement of the problem. The problem, submitted by Julie Wilkes MC '1998, was:

“There is a severe lack of mental health support and providers and the time to care is long and costly. How can more people receive support and mental health in a faster and more efficient manner? How can various special populations (such as black, Asian, women, and veterans who may have specific feelings or needs) have specific support?”

The competitors then spent nearly 8 hours to examine the root causes of the problem and develop feasible solutions. Finally, at 4 pm, the competitors presented their projects before five judges.

The competition Judges were Ben Ebenhack, Department Chair and Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Marietta College, Dr. Bill Ruud, President of Marietta College, Judy Ruud, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Washington State Community College, Julie Wilkes, Senior Manager - North American Total Rewards (culture/wellbeing/experience programs) at Accenture, and Suzy Zumwalde, Mental Health Counselor at Marietta College.

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PioSolve Hackathon participants and judges. — From bottom to top and left to right:
Front row: Professor Linda Roesch, Suzy Zumwalde, Professor Judy Ruud, Elizabeth Vigue, Shelby Byland, Dr. Jacqueline Khorassani, Julie Wilkes, Roji Odari, Kanae Yoshida, Emily Jones, and Kaleigh Eakle
Second row: Professor Ben Ebenhack, Zach Rush, Kade Hennacy, Gavin Ott, Kyler Folkert, Artemii Stepanets, Grant Howard, Bastian Gehrer, Justin Shanklin, Nichole Boone, Dr. William Ruud, and Rebecca Young

First-place PioSolve award winners Kade Hennacy, Shelby Byland, and Roji Odari working on their proposed project — Pictured above: The first-place award winners Kade Hennacy, Shelby Byland, and Roji Odari working on their proposed project “Pioneer Wellness Group”

PioSolve second-place award recipients Rebecca Young and Kaleigh Eakle developing their proposed project âStrings Against Stigma (S.A.Sâ) — Pictured above: The second-place award recipients Rebecca Young and Kaleigh Eakle developing their proposed project “Strings Against Stigma (S.A.S”)

PioSolve third-place award recipients Nichole Boone, Emily Jones, and Kanae Yoshida working on their proposed project âPIO 202: Break the Stigmaâ — Pictured above: The third-place award recipients Nichole Boone, Emily Jones, and Kanae Yoshida working on their proposed project “PIO 202: Break the Stigma”