min.e hack Competition March 2018

Thank you to our industry partners from Shopify and Index Exchange. It's not every day that students get the chance to demonstrate their technical skills and creativity before industry leaders and learn valuable insights. But when it does happen, it's a moment of pride and connection.  That's the experience of our Computer & Mathematical Science (CMS) co-op students in the recent min.e hack competition last March 26 and 28, 2018.

min.e hack is a mini-hackathon competition event that was held for the first time in March 2018.  It is designed to give CMS students tools to help them handle the growing trend of "whiteboard interviews" -- that's when employers ask students to use a whiteboard during an interview to solve a problem on the spot.  The event was part of our second co-op preparation courses for CMS students who were set to begin searching for their first work term in May 2018.  

Student teams, each composed of 5-7 students, were presented with a business case.  Students worked together to conceptualize a solution to their chosen problem statement.  They were given a choice to conceptualize their solution as a web app, mobile app, digital media, design prototype or business plan.  Each team was given approximately one hour to work on the problem.  After the ideation, they presented a 3-minute pitch to industry experts from Index Exchange and Shopify who acted as judges.

It was a win-win situation for both our co-op students and industry experts.  On one hand, students had a taste of the real work-world experience that involves ideation, preparation and presentation.  Not only were their technical skills and creativity put to a test, they also experienced team collaboration, accountability, respect for other people's ideas and openness to constructive criticism.  These are life skills that are crucial to succeeding at work.  Our industry partners had an opportunity to mentor students, provide valuable feedback to their work, promote their brands and hear fresh ideas from young minds.  More importantly, they had a sneak peek of the skills of our co-op students in Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics.  

Because of its success, we are running another min.e hack competiton in July 2018. To our employer partners who wish to connect and build their brands with prospective co-op employees, the min.e hack competition is a great opportunity.  Should you wish to learn more about this event or sign up for the next one scheduled on the week of July 16, 2018, please email us at uoftcoop@utsc.utoronto.ca and our Business Development Coordinator will be in touch with you.  

Congratulations to the winning teams:  Day 1 - Team Light Runner:  Bilal Ahmed, Anmole Bajwa, Raiyan Rahman and Adam Wu; Day 2 - Team TARDIS:  Hao Ran Sun and Aster Wu.  We will post the other names as soon as we secure permission from the students.

 

Here's the link to see photos of the event:  Gallery Photos min.e hack Competition March 2018