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Another successful Hackathon is over! The 2023 ‘From Open Data to AI’ Mini Hackathon was a great evening of innovation, collaboration, and creative problem solving. A big thank you to everyone who helped make it possible, and to all of our participants that brought their ideas to the table. If you missed it, be sure to check out our youtube recording and watch for future events coming soon!

At the Mini Hackathon we focused on using Open Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for social good, and how we can use these valuable tools to solve problems in the Hudson Valley while growing along with the booming tech scene in our community. All of our participants brought forth compelling thoughts and we are happy to see the passion and creativity that flourished here. 

Together we can bring our community into the future of technology and realize the potential of all the newly developed advancements in Artificial Intelligence and Open Data. This is what we strived for here, and judging by the projects that came out of it, we can say for certain that great steps are being made in understanding and harnessing the power of the tools developing in today’s technology marketplace.

We are grateful for our team of judges, it is not so simple to go from learning about a subject to embracing it and being able to judge it. Thank you for all of your hard work and leadership, Cynthia V. Marcello, David Czechowski, Jack Lobianco, John Sturman, and Judith Rohatiner!

Projects were evaluated on many factors including community impact, problem mitigation, alignment with the problem area, and innovation impact. The three teams did an amazing job and we are so proud of how much they accomplished in such a short time!

Choosing just one winner was incredibly hard for our judges, but in the end Team 1, (Rinchin Shoysoronov, Casey Conlin, Danah Edwards, Kaiden Salisbury, and Peter Capek) won it for their masterful use of ChatGPT for research, their well-defined problem and well-articulated process, and the fact that they hit every single point of our challenge as well as providing thoughtful next steps. 

Team 2, (Connor McCormack, Dragana Kitic, Evan Mathews, Kenny Zhang (plus other students from Fei Tian Academy), Michael MacIsaac, and Dr. Vincent Kayes) were impeccably organized and we loved how well they presented their project.

Team 3 (Anurag Kumar Singh, Kay Andren, Kyle Gilbert, Ms. Chara, Wayne Bianchetta, and Udemezue Iloabachie) went deep into the data and brought a thorough analysis to the table that really impressed us. 

In our minds, they are all winners! Trying is winning and at this Hackathon we saw everyone trying their best as they came together to solve problems and harness the power of Open Data, AI, and ChatGPT. 

Join us at upcoming events and Hackathons for more, and remember that everyone is welcome to come play and learn with us!