MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The 10th annual Hackathon competition at Southwest Tennessee Community College teaches students to build apps for a cause on Friday and Saturday.
CodeCrew, a Memphis-based non-profit, brings together dozens of students for the app-building competition. This year's theme, 'AI for My City,' encourages youth to understand what issues impact the Mid-South, and program apps implementing AI to help mitigate those concerns.
Alexander Dunn is entering his junior year of high school and is one of dozens of student coders attending the Hackathon before the school year begins.
"As leaders, we need to get more experienced," he said. "If people aren't interested in our club and don't have to have experience in coding, anyone can join if they want to."
Dunn works with a team to create an app that could make local and national changes — an assignment that all coders are taking on over the weekend.
"We decided to talk about a healthcare app," he said. "And in this app, AI has to be part of it. So we use the chatbot. Basically, the chatbot will say, 'Hey, how are you?' And it'll present a list of options. 'Are you feeling good? Are you feeling bad?' And you'll describe your pain. And with that, it'll give you options like leg pain, neck pain, and it'll provide you information on where to go and drive."
Jean Francois Mahoro, the director of K-12 at CodeCrew, said he is excited to help lead future engineers, programmers, and activists.
"[In] Memphis, we're trying to be like San Francisco, like New York, to be a tech hub," he said. "To be able to scale that up, you've got to have the workforce and the opportunity to be given. I know, for me personally, I wish I had this growing up. So I get to be the mentor; I get to be alongside the journey."
The Hackathon will continue for its final day, Saturday, where students will present their apps and pitches to judges. The event winner will likely submit to the congressional app challenge and attend a conference in Washington, D.C.
If they win that competition, they can pitch their apps to state representatives. That app could also become accessible nationally.