Southern Illinois University Edwardsville hosts eHacks, a 36-hour invention competition, in the Technology and Management Center from Friday evening, March 11 through Sunday morning, March 13. Sixty-five pre-registered contestants will vie for more than $3,000 in prizes to be distributed across multiple categories
“eHacks is a great event to gain exposure to the St. Louis tech industry and network with our sponsors’ engineers,” said Dennis Bouvier, PhD, associate professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science in SIUE’s School of Engineering. “It’s 36 hours of learning, meeting new people and bringing ideas to life.”
The event begins with a mini-career fair Friday from 5-8 p.m.
SIUE Alumni Hall of Fame member Hal Gentry will deliver the keynote address at 6 p.m. Gentry earned a bachelor’s in computer science from SIUE and now serves as chair of the advisory board for the School of Engineering and Computer Science Department.
Gentry is a limited partner in Cultivation Capital and is part of the investment committee of Cultivation Capital and the iSelect funds. He is a member of ArchAngels, the largest angel investment group in the Midwest.
Only current university students will be competing. The event is governed by the rules of Major League Hacking.
“Participants don’t need to arrive in teams,” Bouvier said. “People can team up with other registrants and brainstorm their ideas.”
The Technology Management Center is located in University Park on the SIUE campus. Parking is available on the west side of the facility.
The event is sponsored by Centene Corp., Care Otter, NiSC, Object Computing, Inc., Blue Stingray, AT&T, Fusion Marketing, Major League Hacking and Annie’s Frozen Custard.
For more information, contact Bouvier at 618-650-2369 or dbouvie@siue.edu.