San Pedro I, the flagship building of the School of Data Science at UTSA, is hosting the RowdyHacks hackathon on March 25. Hackathons are social events where coders, programmers, and other computer science enthusiasts come together to collaborate and compete for prizes within a set period. RowdyHacks caters to hackers of all skill levels, offering multiple tracks and challenges such as a beginner and advanced track, retro hack, hardware hack, cybersecurity challenge, and more. The event will have a significant presence of participants from outside San Antonio, with over 500 students signing up this year. The new venue is seen as a symbol of the thriving technology industry located in Downtown San Antonio, part of the “Silicone Hills” that run north to Austin. The organizers’ motto is “Howdy, howdy, let’s get Rowdy,” and they want to make sure that everyone has a great experience.
RowdyHacks 2023: Into the Unknown
RowdyHacks is an annual hackathon event where individuals interested in computer science fields gather to collaborate and compete for prizes. For its eighth year, RowdyHacks will be hosted on March 25 at the San Pedro I building, which serves as the flagship of the School of Data Science.
A hackathon is a social event where coders, programmers, and other computer science enthusiasts come together to learn, collaborate, and compete for prizes within a set period, typically 24 hours. The event also includes workshops and networking opportunities with local tech industries to serve students.
The hackathon caters to hackers of all skill levels, offering multiple tracks and challenges such as a beginner and advanced track, retro hack, hardware hack, cybersecurity challenge, and more. As RowdyHacks Director and junior computer science major Quynh Nguyen explains, “That’s the great thing about a hackathon. You don’t have to know anything; you don’t spend anything because it’s free and you can come and learn all these different things.”
To make the event approachable for first-time hackers, the students organizing RowdyHacks have made great strides. They also ensure that the competition provides students with a hands-on learning experience to test the skills they’ve learned in the classroom.
The theme of the event changes every year, and this year’s theme is “Into the Unknown,” which deals with exploration. The RowdyHacks co-director and UTSA senior computer science major Vamshi Ponnala explains, “There’s something new that happens every year within RowdyHacks, and that’s the change of theme.”
The event promises new prizes, new swag, new workshops, and new companies to talk to, making it exciting for everyone, regardless of experience level. The organizers are particularly excited to commandeer the San Pedro I building, the flagship of the School of Data Science, for the event.
Quynh Nguyen, who remembers being scared at her first hackathon, says she wants to help others experience what she did. “I came out of it running to Google looking for the next hackathon to go to because it was just so fun,” she said. “That’s what kind of encouraged me to run to become RowdyHacks director.”
SPI: The Perfect Space for RowdyHacks
San Pedro I, the flagship building of the School of Data Science at UTSA, is the new venue for RowdyHacks, an annual hackathon event. The move to SPI offers the hackers more space than their previous accommodations on the UTSA Main Campus. More importantly, it is seen as a symbol of the thriving technology industry located in Downtown San Antonio, part of the “Silicone Hills” that run north to Austin.
The ACM members have been attending hackathons across Texas to promote RowdyHacks, and this year, the event will have a significant presence of participants from outside San Antonio. Over 500 students have signed up for the event, and according to Moya, “These are people from all across Texas that are going to come to UTSA and experience RowdyHacks and experience the fun.”
Moya believes that the venue will help show off the technology industry in San Antonio to UTSA students and people interested in technology. He says, “When we had the opportunity to be here at San Pedro I, it was like my dreams were coming true. We can show UTSA students and people interested in technology that there’s technology in San Antonio, and we’re going to use this data science building to show it off to everyone.”
The organizers want to make sure that everyone has a great experience, and their motto is “Howdy, howdy, let’s get Rowdy.”
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