Roux Hackathon Brings Together Students, Faculty, and Staff to Tackle Big Challenges Facing Maine
The Roux Institute at Northeastern University recently held its first campus-wide hackathon, bringing together students, faculty, and staff from various disciplines to tackle challenges facing Maine while cultivating an atmosphere of networking and entrepreneurship.
Organized by the Roux Institute’s entrepreneurship team, the event aimed to promote hands-on learning and community building as the Roux campus, which exceeded 700 students this semester, continues to grow.
Over two days in mid-January, 33 participants collaborated on innovative ideas, with the only requirement being that their solutions must benefit the Maine economy. Design thinking and pitching workshops were led by Deb Mills-Scofield, a Roux mentor, and Elena Brondolo and Allyson Goida, two leaders of the Roux Institute’s Future of Healthcare Founder Residency. Teams also received mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs like Chris Wolfel, the associate vice president and head of entrepreneurship and venture creation at the Roux Institute, and Benjamin Chesler, the Roux’s director of venture creation and acceleration.
Deb Mills-Scofield, a mentor in the Roux Institute's entrepreneurship programs, leadings a Design Thinking workshop.
The two-day hackathon culminated in pitches, prizes, and pizza, during which teams showcased their prototypes and business models to a panel of judges. Proposals included ideas for crowdsourcing food delivery, smart home setups, downtown parking partnerships, a group meditation app, and an app connecting service providers with new customers. Each pitch demonstrated a strong urge to address social challenges with tech solutions.
In the end, two winning teams emerged, each receiving cash prizes and the satisfaction of having developed a feasible and scalable idea in just two days, amid classes and work. The runner-up team, consisting of Tharanitharan Muthuthirumaran, Jaynesh Bhandari, Saketh Krishna Dude, and Prajwal Gangadhar Melinamane, designed an app prototype called Maine Quest that would connect tourists with local Maine craft businesses.
The first-place team presented a predictive AI solution called Staff Guru that would aid small Maine businesses in staffing decisions. Congratulations to Michael Warren, Sean Sullivan, David Munger, and Satya Nandivada on their winning idea! At least two teams plan to continue developing their ideas beyond the hackathon with support from Northeastern’s entrepreneurship resources and the Roux’s student Entrepreneurship Club.
The winning team, Staff Guru, posing with the Hackathon's expert panel of judges.
Although winners were recognized, the true achievement was the new connections and innovative spirit that extend beyond the hackathon.
“The skills developed during this event – leadership, teamwork, creativity, problem solving, and public speaking – are essential skills employers look for in hiring,” said Terra Dunham, an entrepreneurship education program manager at the Roux Institute. “Events like these are just one example of why Northeastern leads the charge in experiential learning and job placement after graduation.”
The Roux’s entrepreneurship team regularly hosts hackathons called “Start Summits” in communities across Maine. Start Summits are open to anyone interested in entrepreneurship. The next one is scheduled for March 15th and 16th in Skowhegan, Maine, with a theme “Outdoor Rec + Tec.” Learn more and sign up here.