ETS PRESS RELEASE: Students Receive Recognition in 8th Annual Hawai’i Code Challenge
Published on November 22, 2023 in Latest news from the department, Writing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2023
STUDENTS EARN RECOGNITION AT 8 YEARS OLDth HAWAII ANNUAL‘CHALLENGE I CODE
High school and college teams create solutions to modernize community services
HONOLULU – Two high school teams and a University of Hawaii team‘I amANoa took home honors in 8th Hawaii Annual Code Challenge (HACC) was held on November 18 on the UH West Oahu campus.
HACC solicits challenges from state departments and community groups and asks student, hobbyist and professional coders to develop technology applications to help solve specific problems over a four-week period.
The HACC was created to encourage engagement between Hawaii‘i residents and the local technology community to modernize state functions and services for a more effective, efficient and open government. Another goal of the hackathon is to strengthen the IT workforce pool and grow the technology industry in our state.
Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke told the teams gathered during the presentation and evaluation that their efforts can improve people’s lives.
“In this competition, you have the opportunity to help solve some of the state’s toughest problems, like homelessness and housing,” said Lt. Governor Luke. “Using coding, you are asked to identify a problem, find ways to fix the problem, and make the application easier for the end user to use. What you do can improve people’s lives and being here says a lot about who you are as individuals.
Mililani High School’s MHS HAKK team won first place in the high school category and a $1,500 prize for their work developing a solution for a challenge to help underinsured or uninsured people find and access affordable health care in Hawaii‘I.
Cassidy Ibanez is the team captain and members include Courtney Hisamoto, Kyle Bain, Nolan Carlisle, Miles Hackeny, Toby James, Kyler Ching and Jourdan Hung.
In the coded category, first place and a $4,000 prize went to Team VENGEN for their design to create a web portal to facilitate civic engagement around the rebuilding of Lahaina, Maui, including surveys, forums, sharing of design concepts with visual and data models for economic and environmental analysis.
Ethan Chee is the captain of UH MAThe student team and noa members include Timothy Huo, Michelle Leano, Eda Cadiena and Marissa Halim.
In the low/no code category, the T777+ team won first place and a $4,000 prize for their response to the affordable healthcare challenge. The team from a mix of secondary schools also took second place in the secondary school category.
Joshua Li is the captain of the team and the members include Brix Kozuki, Jacob Osada, Max Chin and Leo Zhang.
HACC 2023 was sponsored by the State of Hawaii‘i Office of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) in partnership with the University of Hawaii‘I.
State Chief Information Officer Doug Murdock said the team’s submissions were presented in person for the first time since the 2020 restriction and judged by a panel of technology professionals.
“We were very pleased with the quality and creativity of the submissions this year and that the live, in-person presentations added to the excitement,” Murdock said. “These teams took the challenges to heart and did their best to provide solutions. »
In numbers
- 187 participants
- 64 high school students
- 39 teams created
- 26 projects submitted
- 22 code-based projects and four no/low-code projects
- 21 finalists
HACC 2023 – included 5 challenges:
- University of Hawaii – ITS Ask Us Challenge
- Tyler Hawai’i – Affordable Healthcare
- Hawaii Pacific University CMDR (Center for Marine Debris Research) – Large Marine Debris Report and Distribution
- Maui Institute of Art and Technology – Lahaina Digital Twin Project
- Zero Waste Oahu – Reusable Takeout Program Application
Event sponsors include Transform Hawaii Government, Hawaiian Airlines, Verizon, Google for Government, Tyler Technologies, Microsoft, eWorld Enterprise Solutions, Salesforce, Hawaii Data Collaborative, AT&T and AWA.
Partners include the IMAG Foundation, the Hawaii‘i Department of Education IT Team, UH MAnoa Information and Computing, Hawaii‘i University of the Pacific and Hawaii‘i Technology development company.
| Challenges) | Team name | Captain | Affiliation | Advise | SH results | Open results |
| Affordable healthcare | MHS HAKK | Cassidy Ibanez | Mililani HS | Blaise Hanagami | 1st | |
| Affordable healthcare | T777+ | Joshua Li | HS mixed | Tiger Li | 2nd | 1st without code |
| ITS Ask us | Hō’emi | Brandon Dorde | Waipahu HS | Cindy Takara | 3rd | 3rd without code |
| Marine debris | Hiapo | Karen Sabog | Solo | 2nd without code | ||
| ITS Ask us | Dark mode | Micah Tilton | UH Manoa | 2nd code | ||
| Lahaina Project | VENGENE | Ethan Chee | UH Manoa | 1st code | ||
| Marine debris | Frozen ice cream | Giorgio Tran | UH Manoa | 3rd code |
For more information, visit https://hacc.hawaii.gov/
See the HACC photos on https://www.flickr.com/photos/144304884@N07/albums/72177720312873814
###
Legend: Mililani High School students from the MHS HAKK team won first place at the Hawaii 2023‘i High school category of the annual Code Challenge and a prize of $1,500.
Photo – Hawaii‘i Office of Business Technology Services
Media contact
James Gonser, Senior Director of Communications
State of Hawaii‘i Office of Business Technology Services
Office: (808) 285-0520
James Gonser
Senior Communications Manager
Office of Business Technology Services
State of Hawaii
Office: 808-586-1866
Cell: 808-285-0520
