Global hacking contest at NYU Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: More than 100 programmers and coders will lock horns in Abu Dhabi this weekend for a global hacking competition.

The 24-hour programming contest, called AngelHack Hack-athon, will be held at New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat campus on September 4 and 5.

A joint initiative of NYU’s Idea Lab and the US-based organisation Angelhack, the event will see UAE-based software developers pitching their ideas as viable business opportunities.

Enthusiastic response

Robyn Brazzil, programming head at Idea Lab, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme at NYU, said more than 150 students and programmers from across the UAE have registered for the competition.

The contest is designed to be a ‘technology-meets-entrepreneurship’ platform where entrepreneurs with start-up concepts can meet and partner with programmers who can support them with suitable web ideas.

“Over 24 hours, contestants will develop a prototype of their ideas, which will be judged by a panel of two judges against certain criteria like feasibility, technical quality of the prototype and its use in the real world,” said Brazzil. He said the global competition has been taking place in various cities around the world through the year.

The winners in each city will not just get to participate in a 12-week mentorship programme with AngelHack, they will also take part in the grand finale of the competition which will be held in Silicon Valley next month.

Elaborating on the role played by NYU in the competition, Brazzil said Idea Lab, which started as a physical space in the university campus, has become an innovation and entrepreneurship programme that is open to all.

“This is not just an event. At NYU it is an ongoing programme to help our students conceive an idea, then develop it into a prototype and turn the prototype into a successful business model.

“By organising such events, we aim to bring our students and the larger community closer to the world of tech entrepreneurship.”