Highline’s CS (Computer Science) Club hosted the Thunder Hacks, a coding competition called hackathons, only for Highline students from March 12-14.

Highline CS club is a community of students that aims to connect students interested in computer science to relevant workshops, job opportunities, and other events. They participated in several different internships, mentor programs, workshops, and hackathons.

The purpose of the Thunder Hacks was to provide an opportunity for Highline students to gain hands-on experience in building software applications. 

In the Thunder Hacks, students were provided 48 hours and 45 minutes to compete and collaborate with their team members to create a brand-new project from scratch. 

Thunder Hacks provided several tracks, or themes that students could explore when building their projects. Thunder Hacks also encourage new programmers to start coding.

Students worked as a group or individuals to create games or websites. 

Each project was voted by Highline CS club members and Thunder Hacks participants to decide the winners based on creativity, design, and impact. There were five prizes, including Most Thunderous Hack, Most Innovative Hack, Best Community Hack, Best Game, and Best Interdisciplinary Hack.

David Pak, who won the Most Innovative Hack, said he participated in the Thunder Hacks to get more coding experience.

“I just wanted more coding experience, so I decided why not,” Pak said.

Since the Thunder Hacks provide limited time to participants, it was the most difficult part for Pak. 

“I liked the idea, but that was not my best work, because it was in the finals season and I only had a short time to work with,” Pak said.

Yuna Kim, the president of the Highline CS club, said it was definitely both a great and challenging experience to host a hackathon.

“The biggest difficulty we faced was spreading the word out about the hackathon, and figuring out which requirements will best engage competitors,” Kim said.

Highline CS club is currently working to host another hackathon in collaboration with the Stadium High School Girls Who Code Club in spring.