11 Dec Valley Hackathon IV participants create Websites and Apps for the Glendale Community
The Valley Economic Alliance hosted approximately 100 high school and college students at the 4th Annual Valley Hackathon on September 21st at the Downtown Glendale Central Library’s Auditorium.
The technology competition brought high school and college students together in mixed teams to create a website or mobile application that provides members of the Glendale community a platform to directly tap into Glendale city hall and inform them of their needs, express concerns, and stay connected with Glendale. Teams were also asked to include a feature where city officials can inform and alert the community about new ideas, challenges, and projects.
Teams created their final websites and apps within 4 hours and presented a 5 minute pitch to a panel of judges for a chance to win prizes. The judges panel included; City of Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanyan; Senior Administrative Analyst with City of Glendale, Gregory Kajszo; and Vice President of Comerica Bank, Petros Altunyan.
“Glendale Connect” received first place that provided information about events happening in Glendale, contacts to hotlines, a notification system for emergencies and a forum for the community to discuss issues.
The event concluded with a Career and Resource Fair exclusively for Hackathon participants. Employers included Glendale Police Department, Bixel Exchange L.A. Tech Talent Pipeline, Office of Senator Robert M. Hertzberg, Office of Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, Office of LA City Attorney Mike Feuer, The Muse Rooms, and Dish Divvy.
Valley Hackathon IV was held during City of Glendale’s Tech Week, a city wide technology initiative of hosted events. Other event sponsors include City of Glendale, Top Leaders and DWP Information Architects.
Students from Glendale High School, Clark Magnet High School, Granada Hills Charter High School, Glendale Community College, Cal Poly Pomona, Santa Monica College, Citrus College, Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles Mission College, Cal State Fullerton, University of Southern California, College of the Canyons, Los Angeles Pierce College, Stanford University and more participated in this year’s competition.