The Code-A-Thon

The Focus of the Coding Competition

This competition is about pure unadulterated skill and prowess in application development.  It is designed to utilize all the skills required to develop a functional and useful application.  From analysis to design to coding, it covers the full range of skills.

Each team will be competing against the exact same criteria.  The specifics of the coding challenge will be handed to the teams at the launch of the competition.  The scenario will address a real-life example of an identified need for consumers interacting with the Public Works department application.  Hereon referred to as the “C2PW Application”.  Think about it, we see a pothole, who reports it?  No one does, as we don’t have the time, and or know how to report it.  A streetlight no longer works, and you rely on it, who do you call?  These are just two (2) examples of what such an application would do.  On the day of the competition, we will put into a hat all of the ideas that are generated by the SMART city of Racine and create a solution that will solve these problems.

You get the opportunity to craft something amazing, show off your skills and win some prizes.  The community benefits from great ideas and an application that helps the community in some useful way.  Everyone wins!

Coding Competition Initiatives to be solved

This coding event will focus on SMART City initiatives which include:

1. 1. Uses of 5G technology
   2. Sustainability – such as reduction in food waste, reduction of freshwater usage, reduction of pollution.
   3. Transportation – connected services, ie. scooters, buses, train, Uber.
   4. SMART City Services locators: parks, restaurants, walking paths, beaches, fishing, sailing, potholes, broken parking meters, lights, etc.
   5. Open Category for other SMART city initiatives.

What can I win by participating? 

Besides connecting to the Coding community, educators, people that want to learn together and get better, people hiring coders, learning great methods from other coders, being introduced to coding and learning how to code, and finally – simply have a great time.  You can actually earn prize money and scholarships.  See the grahic below for details.

Where will the competition occur? 

Gateway Technical College has offered to volunteer at the IT Center of Excellence located on the Racine campus from 9 AM on Friday to 9 PM and 9 AM on Saturday until 1 PM, September 10th and 11th.  Gateway, UW-Parkside, and Carthage faculty and students will be participating and provide expertise in the areas that support this event.

Location Map

Who will participate?  

Participants can come from any walk of life: Student, professional, minor, or adult.  All ideas and participants are encouraged.  The competition is designed to include several groups.

1. 1. Competitors – The event is open to all age groups, all members will be placed at random into teams. All members must be registered.  For those under the age of 18, they must have a parental release to participate.
   2. Experts on-hand –  A diverse team from all business and educational areas supporting: Mechanical, Advanced Manufacturing, Web and Software developers, CSS instructors, Cybersecurity instructors will be on-hand for the competition for competitors in their process of developing the app.
   3. Support Teams – Support teams on-site will include resources from Gateway, Uw-Parkside, UWM, Carthage College, and other partners faculty members in Advanced Manufacturing and Mechanical/Electrical Engineering.

How does the competition work for 2021?

IMPORTANT!  This event is designed to be collaborative, so there are a lot of resources involved.

• • Design Teams: Each breakout room will work to establish what the C2PW Application solution could be in each release. These teams will then develop the releases for each of the approved ideas. We will have the expertise available in person or via Zoom for the teams. These teams will interface with the coding teams to help identify phases of the work, what will be in the initial release, 2nd release, 3rd release, etc.
    While this is going on the coding teams will be developing mockup screens to support the C2PW Application. These coding teams will be broken down into screen design, application design, and database design for each of the Design Teams.
  • The goal is to complete the initial release of the C2PW Application by Saturday at 1 PM. The teams will work through the day on Friday to accomplish this, then on Saturday, the Design teams will work on a 15-minute presentation of what they accomplished, what is needed in resources, and what solution it would provide for a SMART city. Judging criteria are listed in the Judging Criteria graphic below.
  • Saturday at 1:00 PM presentations would start on the Racine Campus, in the Michigan Room with Judges in the front 2 isles of the meeting room. The judging is expected to last up to 2 hours. Approximately 6-9 teams during that time.

Code-a-Thon Judging – Detailed Criteria for 2021:

Judging for the Code-a-Thon uses these criteria:

Competition Process

1. 1. Competition pre-registration is open July 1 through September 9th (see Register Now button below)
   2. Event Day site registration is open from 7 to 9 am on September 10th at the Gateway Technical College, IT Center of Excellence, Technical Building, 3rd Floor, 1001 Main Street Racine, WI
   3. This is a 16-hour competition that will run from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, September 10th, and 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on September 11th, 2021.
   4. Competitors will be able to utilize gaming systems located on the floor to relax during breaks.
   5. Presentation and judging will occur at Gateway’s Conference Center on September 10th, starting at 1:00 PM. Awards will be presented upon completion.  We would like all award winners to come to the awards ceremony on Saturday, September 18th, 7:00 PM, on the Monument Square Main Stage

Tools for Coding Competition

All apps developed will be hosted on the Tech-Prize.org website when complete for public viewing and use.

The following apps are supported Apps for development:

• • Gamesalad 
  • Microsoft Power Apps (O365)
  • WordPress, Drupal
  • Appy Pie – Free starter plan easy
  • MIT Appinventor – Plug and play easy
  • Ionic Framework require knowledge of JS high capability medium skills

Gateway Technical College is providing 12 stations in 5 classrooms (60 computers) and software for teams to use and an additional 3 classrooms for 12 to bring their own computer.

Competitors may bring their own hardware and software.

Instructors and students from Gateway, Carthage, UW-Parkside, UW-Milwaukee will be present to assist throughout the process.

Mentors and coaches are welcome to participate throughout the competition (those present are encouraged to help all competitors).

Participation Rules and Guidelines

Code of conduct will apply to all participants.

Any participant under the age of 18 must have a signed parental consent with emergency release at the time of competition.

All intellectual property built during the competition will be hosted on Tech-Prize.org for use by the community. We are coming together to create solutions for a SMART city around coding.  Our goal is to create energy and motivation around coding skills and SMART city solutions for our community.

Following that objective, all participants agree to release a copy of the intellectual property to the City of Racine for their internal use only.  Participants retain ownership of their code developed for the competition – please see the pitch competition for the next steps! 😉

YES! Show me the Pitch Competition!