“Hackathon” is a compound word combining “hacking” and “marathon,” referring to an event to hack or develop computer programs at a certain time and place like a marathon. Recently, however, the term refers not only to hacking but also to gathering in the same space at a certain time to create ideas and works overnight. Facebook is well-known for hosting hackathons where all of its team including developers, designers, HR staff, marketing people, and finance personnel gather together to create and develop ideas and thought overnight, with food and snacks provided for them by the company.

During the first hackathon held at the KU Maker Space, participants had to make personalized items that can give small but definite happiness. The screening process evaluated proposals of 20 participant teams, 10 of which were chosen for the finals. Following an orientation at 9 am on January 31 and laser printer and 3D printer trainings at 10 am, the students started making items from 1 pm. The participants had to implement their ideas using the materials, parts, and programs that were provided. During the sleepless 2-day event, participants completed and presented prototypes by 3 pm the next day, followed by an announcement of winners and an awards ceremony. One grand prize (1,500,000 won), one top excellence award (1 million won), and two excellence awards (500,000 won) were given to selected winners by category. Team HANUS received the grand prize for a small DJ Box that produces and plays beats that can free people from mundane daily life, appealing to their tactile, auditory, visual senses, by pressing an analog-sentiment button. In addition, Team 42.195, which developed a personalized soju-beer machine that maintains custom soju-beer ratios, received the top excellence award. When the soju-beer button is pressed on the machine, soju and beer flow out, and the weight sensor detects the pre-set weight and closes the valve when the set percentage is reached.



The two excellence awards went to Team Laos, which developed a Yes or No decision-making machine to help indecisive people and Team Hogwart Anam Campus, which developed a magic wand that records people’s movement on a map using Harry Potter's representative magic spells. An official of the hackathon said, "Despite the fact that it was the first ever hackathon held at Korea University and the time and space were limited, various interesting prototypes were produced." He added that the university will continue its efforts to develop this event, improving on issues found this time round. In particular, due to limitations in equipment and space, and since the students had to use the given materials only, there was no room for diversity of materials. On top of that, equipment operation training was carried out while the participating teams were working on their projects as no prior training was given, giving them little time to complete their work by the deadline. Meanwhile, Korea University will provide training to produce hackathon + α outcomes and secure sufficient time for training in collaboration with the private mentoring team as well as professors and faculty members of Korea University.