About the author: Peter Kuperman founded QED Benchmark Management, LLC, a New York-based hedge fund. He completed his Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania.
Penn’s computer science department has a reputation for emphasizing theory over practical work, such as coding. However, since 2010, the PennApps Hackathon has provided students with an opportunity to apply the theory they have been studying. Each semester, students build software over the course of a weekend and enter the final products in a competition. The competition emphasizes simplicity and also accepts entries from students at other acclaimed universities, such as Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Harvard, and Rutgers.
The most recent winning entry allowed users to activate an instant turntable. Created by a team of Penn students, ScratchTable picks up sounds from a nearby surface through a microphone. The app converts the sounds into turntable features. In second place, the Grassroutes app helps nonprofits drum up support by enabling users to contact their congressional representatives directly from the nonprofits’ sites. Those who enjoy road trips may wish to check out rdtripp.in, the third-place app, which helps individuals plan a driving route by pointing out places to stay based on a list of Facebook friends.
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