H₂O Hackathon Winners Announced

Teams of students from across San Joaquin County competed in the Eighth Annual H₂O Hackathon coding competition at the San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE) on Saturday, May 3, racing to design a "smart meter" app to help local communities save water and money. In a second category of competition, teams created engaging multimedia campaigns to bring awareness to the importance of conserving water.

More photos will be posted on the SJCOE Facebook page when available.

In all, more than 200 high school and college students and their coaches on 63 teams competed. Cash prizes were awarded to nine winning teams. The Avengers team from San Joaquin Delta College was awarded the California Water Service Company (Cal Water) Grand Prize Golden Spigot Award of $5,000. Winners were selected by a panel of judges including water experts and coding professionals.

The H₂O Hackathon is a community-supported event that taps into the technological, creative, problem-solving, and presentation skills of local students to find solutions for the state's water issues. The focus changes each year, with previous issues ranging from dam safety to flood response. No prior computer coding experience is necessary to compete. 

This year’s theme was Hack the Tap. At approximately 8:30 a.m., students learned the day's challenge, set by H₂O Hackathon partners Cal Water and Restore the Delta to apply to a real-world issue impacting San Joaquin County. Teams had until 2 p.m. to complete their projects. For the coding competition, the challenge was to create an app to use as a "smart meter" to help monitor and reduce water use. For the multimedia competition, the challenge was to create a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of conserving water and encourage people to take action to save water.

At the end of the day, finalists took the stage at the SJCOE Wentworth Education Center to present their projects before learning who would win the California Water Service Company Grand Prize Golden Spigot Award and other prizes.

"Students taking part in the H₂O Hackathon are learning computer coding, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and other skills that will help prepare them for the jobs of today and tomorrow," San Joaquin County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Troy Brown said. "Not only are students preparing themselves for their own futures, but they are also focusing their passion and innovation on their community.”

For more information about the H₂O Hackathon, go to h2ohackathon.org.

Results

Competitors at the Eighth Annual H₂O Hackathon could sign up as a team or as individuals, who were grouped into teams by organizers. Teams competed in high school and college divisions in the coding competition. The multimedia competition was open to both age groups. The Cal Water Golden Spigot Award winner was selected from all competition winners.

CODING COMPETITION

High School:    

First Place ($1,500): Team Marmot, Stockton Early College Academy (Stockton Unified School District) 

Second Place ($1,000): WIRL, Lincoln High School (Lincoln Unified School District)

Third Place ($500): VS Code Warriors, River Islands High School, River Islands Academies

College:    

First Place ($1,500): 404: Kryptos Can’t Swim, San Joaquin Delta College

Second Place ($1,000): CodeCedo, University of the Pacific 

Third Place ($500): Liquid Logic, CodeStack Academy

MULTIMEDIA COMPETITION

  *First Place ($1,500): The Avengers, San Joaquin Delta College

Second Place ($1,000): The Tap Stars, San Joaquin Delta College

Third Place ($500): Coding Diamonds, Mountain House High School (Lammersville Unified School District)

*Selected to receive the Cal Water Golden Spigot Award ($5,000)

 

The H₂O Hackathon is a community-supported event. This year’s sponsors include California Water Service Company (Cal Water); CRC Carbon Terravault; Pacific Gas & Electric; University of the Pacific; East Bay Municipal Utility District; Port of Stockton; A.G. Spanos Companies; San Joaquin Partnership; Stockton East Water District; The Wine Group, The Grupe Company; and the cities of Manteca, Lathrop, Tracy, and Lodi. The competition is operated by the SJCOE in collaboration with founding partners and other community partners on the H₂O Hackathon Planning Committee, including Restore the Delta, Cal Water, iHub San Joaquin, San Joaquin Partnership, A.G. Spanos Companies, Café Coop, BOSS Business Systems, San Joaquin Delta College, and Stockton Unified School District.