01-30-13 | Blog Post
Michigan mobile and web application development has been a focus of the state’s initiatives to grow the tech talent locally – one example is an upcoming two-day hackathon, MHacks 2013, hosted by student groups from the University of Michigan.
The 36-hour competition provides an incubator for web and mobile application development, with over $10,000 in prizes. According to the MHacks Twitter, they recently just passed 825 signups, exceeding their anticipated 500. Organized by Michigan Hackers and MPowered Entrepreneurship and co-hosted by Facebook, the ‘exploratory programming’ event will run from February 1-3 with an awards ceremony held at Palmer Commons on U-M’s North Campus, also home to the U-M College of Engineering.
More than just a fun student event, the hackathon’s prizes include a chance to actualize existing projects. According to the MHacks Facebook, the top three teams emerging from the hackathon will have the opportunity to interview with venture capitalists from Lightbank and DVP (Detroit Venture Partners) to fund their innovations.
The hackathon is free to sign up, and encourages students from all over the MidWest to attend – students can register here.
“We want to establish U-M as one of the top computer science and hacker schools in the country and Michigan as a cool place for young people to come work,” said David Fontenot, MHacks director, as quoted by the U-M College of Engineering. “Michigan is at a turning point – the tech startup culture is starting to take over here.”
When it comes to supporting the tech startup culture and helping propel talented students in the field of technology, Online Tech has recently awarded two U-M students scholarships in information technology and health informatics. The students were selected from a range of candidates with an interest in cloud computing, data security, disaster recovery, colocation and similar topics.
We’re also expanding and supporting the 6.9 percent growth in Michigan’s high-tech job market with our own plans to grow our Michigan employee base by 25 percent in 2013. Check out our Careers page for the complete list of open positions in technical, administrative and sales.
With Michigan’s move toward mobile application innovation, data security is important to consider when it comes to protecting consumer and patient information, particularly in the healthcare and ecommerce industries. Read our blog for tips on mobile device use policies, compliance and mobile devices, and a case study of a secure BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) environment.
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Mobile Technology Innovation Transforming the Michigan Auto Industry
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IT Employment Up at Online Tech’s Michigan Data Centers
As mentioned in a previous post, we here at Online Tech are looking to add another 25% to our already strong employee base. In the past few months we’ve been able to grow dramatically as we focus on our goal … Continue reading →
References:
MHacks.org
Student-Run Hackathon Brings Top University Computer Science Talent to Michigan
