Clarity Partners hosted a civic-themed hack night for over 30 Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) students on Tuesday, April 4th. The two hour competition was jointly organized by Clarity and student leaders of IIT’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), as an opportunity for students to gain experience in real-world challenges within the hackathon format.

A hackathon is a collaborative computer programming event, typically comprised of software problems with a specific focus. Tuesday’s event focused on civic scenarios in web development and engineering. The aim of the event was to provide the IIT students with experience they are unlikely to find in the classroom, as well as to connect them with industry professionals.

The event began with an introduction to Clarity, basic real-world industry practices, and the hackathon rules, before students broke out into ten teams to begin the competition. Clarity employees assisted with questions throughout the night. The challenges were created by both ACM leaders and members of Clarity’s web development team and included development, data analysis, and development and operations (DevOps) problems. Most problems automatically earned points upon completion, while the less concrete and higher value problems were awarded points by Clarity and ACM judges on an individual basis.

At the close of the night, the top three teams were recognized. Clarity was excited to host the IIT students and looks forward to serving as a resource to ACM in the future.

Illinois Institute of Technology

IIT is a private, technology-focused research university located in Chicago with undergraduate and graduate programs in engineering, science, architecture, business, design, human sciences, applied technology, and law.

About Clarity Partners

Clarity Partners is a Chicago-based, full-service management and information technology consulting firm that specializes in delivering comprehensive solutions to complex public sector and non-profit challenges. We provide management consulting, enterprise performance management, application development, website design and development, cloud solutions, project management, and IT staffing services to a diverse mix of businesses across the full spectrum of industries.