Technology students to compete in BoilerMake event

Several College of Technology students, individually or as part of teams, will take part in the second annual BoilerMake hackathon Oct. 17-19.

Hunter Thornsberry, a sophomore from New Palestine, Indiana, is one of 500 college students hoping to walk away from the event with prizes or job contacts. The computer and information technology major will be working on his BoilerBazaar web site, which he created as an online market for college students.

“My first goal, by far, is to learn. I want to surround myself with people who love technology as much as I do,” Thornsberry said. “After that, I want to improve my code and grow BoilerBazaar.”

During the 36 hours of the hackathon, Thornsberry plans to figure out how to use the MEAN stack for his web site instead of the traditional SQL database and PHP programming.

Senior Ethan Madden, a computer and information technology major from Evansville, Indiana, is part of a team who is building a 3D-printed hand that can be operated based on electromyography (EMG) data from a user’s forearm.

During the event, he will work on the hardware, build some of the circuits, and write code to help with the hand’s finger movements.

“The payoff for me will be a super interesting project to throw on my resume that might help open doors to jobs in microcontroller development,” Madden said.

Madden's teammate Clayton Patton, a mechanical engineering technology major, has been focused on the hand model and how it moves. He had to design new frames with motor mount points and parts that attach to the motor to make the finger movement possible, as well. The project has allowed him to explore newer technologies and expand his knowledge beyond his major.

"I'm not a biologist or a programmer, so I really didn't know a lot about biometrics and how it works with electronics," Patton said. "It has helped me sharpen my CAD skills, too."

Winners of the event will be determined by four judges. One of judges, Holly Chan, earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the College of Technology.

BoilerMake bills itself as an event "where teams of students create software and hardware projects that solve important, real-world problems" and puts them in the same room with leaders of top technology companies.

See coverage of the event in Lafayette Journal and Courier.