West Virginia State University announced on April 2 that it will host its first hackathon, the MS-CC Environmental Sciences Hackathon, on Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4.
The event is designed to give students hands-on experience with real-world environmental and cybersecurity challenges. Organizers say the hackathon will use data science, artificial intelligence, and open-source tools to address issues facing environmental data systems in communities.
The hackathon is being held in partnership with the Environmental Data Science Innovation and Impact Lab (ESIIL). Students are expected to work as teams with mentor support as they analyze air quality data from distributed sensor networks. They will investigate how problems such as faulty data or cyber threats could affect important decisions based on this information.
Throughout the two-day event, participants will collaborate using real-world data and application programming interfaces (APIs), identify potential threats to sensor network integrity, design solutions for stronger monitoring systems, and present their ideas for recognition and awards. The university said these activities aim to help students develop skills relevant for careers in cybersecurity and environmental sciences.
Funding for the hackathon comes from National Science Foundation Award #2234326 awarded to Internet2 on behalf of MS-CC. Additional details about the event can be found at https://ms-cc.org/ms-cc-hackathon-at-west-virginia-state-university/.
The university encourages those interested to follow West Virginia State University’s updates on Facebook, Instagram @wvsu_official, and X @WVStateU.
