Imagining a World Offline, High School Students Build Solutions at Stony Brook Hackathon

Stony Brook's Office for Research and Innovation and the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) hosted a day-long hackathon that brought together nearly 130 students from 15 school districts across Long Island. Photos by John Griffin.

For high school students raised with constant access to connectivity, the idea of losing it can feel unimaginable.

At Stony Brook University, students were asked to imagine that scenario and then solve it, creating ideas for technologies designed to keep critical systems running when networks go down.

The result was a day-long hackathon that brought together nearly 130 students from 15 school districts across Long Island for a day of collaboration, coding and real world problem-solving. Hosted by the university's Office for Research and Innovation and the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT), and made possible by Verizon through a sponsorship with Stony Brook University Advancement, the April 23 event challenged students with the theme "Coding Innovation for Digital Resilience."

Working in teams of four, students were tasked with developing entrepreneurial solutions to challenges surrounding digital reliability, from disaster response to communication breakdowns. But success would require more than technical or coding skills.

"What we really want to see is all of you working together and collaborating, utilizing not just your coding experience, but your teamwork ability," said Derek O'Connor, workforce development manager in the Office of Economic Development at Stony Brook. "Why does the world need what you're coming up with?"

Teams had only a few hours to design, build and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges, requiring them to think quickly and communicate clearly.

"This is a pretty short time frame for a hackathon," said Abrar Ohe, a Stony Brook University sophomore computer science major and a mentor for the event. "They have to work quickly, think quickly… but they're still generating good and ambitious ideas for half a day."

"Teaching is one of the best ways to learn," Ohe added. "As I'm teaching them, it's also reinforcing all of those concepts, so it's good for me too."

A new feature of this year's event was the introduction of advanced artificial intelligence tools. "One of the coolest things that we have this year is that each of the student teams has an NVIDIA Jetson developer kit," said Christopher Lange, engineering manager at CEWIT. "They can use AI technology on the device, create an edge device that will actually work outside of just a desktop."

The added technology expanded what students could accomplish within the short time frame, enabling them to explore real-world use cases like object detection, emergency response tools and communication systems that function independently.

"This is using artificial intelligence," said industry mentor Dominique Lee. "They're actually working with the language learning models to understand how they can use that to fix problems in the real world."

"This is a great event," said Arly Arguela, a math teacher in the Brentwood School District, who was a first-time district participant in this year's hackathon. "They're already thinking, 'How is this going to help in the real world? How can I apply my classroom knowledge?'"

"We started working with the Stony Brook student hackathon, and then we coordinated with Stony Brook and built an internship program where we hire students to work on projects throughout the year," said Shawn Freed, AVP of Engineering at SRC, a Syracuse-based not-for-profit research and development company in the defense, environment and intelligence industries, who served as a judge for the event. "The idea is that students who are really excelling can turn that into a full-time internship opportunity."

For some participants, the event was a chance to visit the campus they will attend next year as a student.

"Seeing all the innovation and research that goes on is really inspiring to see and makes me very optimistic about my future at Stony Brook," said Daniel Cohen, a senior at Longwood High School and incoming Stony Brook student. "It makes me excited for my future in research."

The goal of inspiring future generations is central to the university's mission, according to Mónica Bugallo, interim vice president for research and innovation.

"We are extremely committed to supporting the workforce of our future, to support the younger generations," she said. "And to figure out how they are going to be part of our technological and engineering workforce."

That broader impact was visible throughout the day, from the ideas students developed to the partnerships that made the event possible.

"It was incredibly rewarding to witness the creativity, passion, and collaboration of these talented students, representing high schools across Long Island at this full-day event," said Rong Zhao, director of CEWIT. "This dynamic experience was made possible by the dedicated CEWIT team, led by Workforce Development Manager Derek O'Connor, with strong support from the Office for Research and Innovation and our student volunteers. We are also grateful to the judges from CEWIT's partner organizations, whose expertise and mentorship helped shape this meaningful, hands-on learning experience."

The hackathon has grown significantly since its inception, expanding from a small group of schools to a region-wide event with participants from 15 districts this year.

"With Verizon's support, we were able to grow significantly from year two to year three," O'Connor said, noting the company's sponsorship helped fund equipment, food and prizes. Additional Stony Brook merchandise, giveaways and support was provided by the University Honors Programs, the Center for Inclusive Education, University and Medicine Community Relations, the Faculty Student Association, the Division of Student Affairs, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Undergraduate Admissions.

For Verizon, the partnership reflects a broader investment in innovation and future generations

"They are the future of how we think about these challenges," said Ashley Greenspan, Verizon director for state and local government affairs in New York. "This is a really important time to be thinking about how our communities respond to climate change and be prepared for future disasters."

- Beth Squire