YU hosts a ‘hackathon’ tech fair

Yeshiva University students will host their third annual hackathon from 8:30 pm on Saturday night, Oct. 29 to 8:30 pm on Sunday, Oct. 30, in the Heights Lounge on YU’s Wilf Campus in Washington Heights.

On college campuses around the world, hackathons — 24-hour technological innovation marathons — encourage creative thinking and partnerships. But because they typically occur on Saturdays, religious Jews can’t participate. The YU hackathon provides a forum for observant Jews to connect, brainstorm and partner together to build anything from apps to robots to self-driving cars.

This year’s event features an Israeli Tech Startup Fair where participants can meet with representatives from Israeli companies, learn about the products they create and hear tech talks from professionals in a wide range of fields. These professionals will also be available to mentor students and offer insight or feedback on the projects they’re working on throughout the event.

“We’re pioneering a brand new way for students to step into the world of Israel,” said Tamar Shiller, one of the event’s organizers. “The goal is to build an experience for students that will help them create tools for and learn more about Israel’s tech community.”

The event is free and open to students at any high school or college between the age of 16 and 26. Knowing how to write code is not a requirement to participate.