A New Edge for CruzHacks 2021
Less than a month remains before CruzHacks 2021! The largest hackathon in our corner of the world, returns January 15th to 17th, 2021 to provide an opportunity for students and entrepreneurs to find innovative technical solutions to the most pressing problems of our times. The recent multitude of crisis have only accelerated the need for original thinking and rapid applications development.
As the first ever virtual CruzHacks, expectations are high for a record number of attendees and projects built during the event. After a wild year, we hope to see hackers tailoring their projects toward some of the global pain points of 2020 such as healthcare, communication, and accessibility. Bridging the gap between mobilizing innovative new tools, addressing current issues, and original thinking, CruzHacks provides a unique opportunity for innovation. Currently, registrations already include applicants from 115 unique universities in 13 countries — the most diverse applicant pool to date! Nearly 1,000 persons are expected to participate as the majority of registrations occur 1 week prior the event. This will be the first year CruzHacks will be entirely virtual (online).
Additionally, as Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies continue to evolve at warp speed, applications are often being developed faster than the data infrastructure to support them. New tech integrations are becoming more attainable, applicable, and important, acting as the brains in everything from our refrigerators to Alexa and friends. From sensors capturing data to remote servers returning actionable insights there are numerous shortcomings. In the past, CruzHacks participants have often relied on cloud systems such as AWS and Google Cloud. Enter the alternative, “Edge Computing,” a concept not so much on the edge, where applications and data are placed in close proximity to optimize data processing and delivery. Often hardware specific, optimizing data flow is becoming increasingly important to scale effectively.
As cloud computing encounters logistical limitations, Edge computing is an addition to the hybrid solutions that have often passed under the radar. Utilizing distributed micro-data centers in proximity of networks lets data be processed closer to its source, improving performance and ease of adhering to regulatory requirements. Cloud-computing, while an elegant solution in many cases is falling behind the rapid trend of digitalization and ever increasing amounts of data. Edge computing provides an intermediary answer with:
better bandwidth, improving the processing of high amounts of data for high volume applications such as streaming high definition video
lower latency, improving system response time for critical applications such as autonomous cars and automated systems
providing more efficient adherence to regulated industries through local and more secure storage solutions
Interesting in its merits, “Edge Computing” is one of many solutions to support accelerating the applications of technical systems in ever increasing contexts. CruzHacks is on the leading edge of these new innovations, traditionally having awarded original approaches to important topics such as earth, health, and justice hacks, and provided near unbounded opportunities for creative technical applications. Between cloud and edge computing and ever expanding AI and IoT applications, we can’t wait to see the creative ideas to come.
CruzHacks was established in April 2014. The founders were Mark Adams, Brent Haddad, and Doug Erickson. The 2021 CruzHacks board: Doug Erickson, Amanda Rotella, Nathan Westrup, Sue Carter, and Neha Pamidi.