Following the success of last year’s event, Purple once again put students across Greater Manchester to the test at the 2018 Tameside Hack.
The two-day event, run by Tameside Council and Tameside College, gives young people aged 12-18 the chance to get competitive with their coding, digital and creative skills. Local companies including Purple, Avecto, Brother UK, Code Nation and Manchester Digital, each created their own unique technical challenges for the youngsters to tackle head on; competing for a number of exciting prizes.
This year, Purple challenged the young coders to “enhance daily life using accessible data” like Google APIs, TfGM data, and Yahoo Weather.
Janet Daington, Developer from Purple and Mentor at the Hack said: “The event presents a fantastic opportunity for young people to get together and test their coding skills, and it’s great to be so involved.”
The winning team, the Sidewinder Cookies from West Hill School, took home a drone and a £30 shopping voucher each. Vishal, Junaid, Amish and Will created a geo-triggered reminder App that enabled users to set a ‘note’ or ‘task’ on their mobile device. Through the use of Google APIs, the user would be notified if they passed a location that would allow them to complete the ‘note’ or ‘task’ set. Not only this, but the App also had the ability to plan routes for the user, allowing them to complete multiple tasks in the shortest route possible.
Members of Purple’s development team were on hand to support, offering guidance throughout the hackathon, brainstorming and helping the teams develop their ideas and technical skills.
The event, now in its third year, has proved to be very valuable for participants. Daington adds: “Events like this are really important in ensuring young people develop the skills they need to succeed in a modern economy driven by technology.”