Join us on February 4th-6th for M&T Bank’s first annual Meet & Hack, a hackathon and conference for the RIT community.

In teams of 1-4, you'll have 24 hours to create something new (an app, website, business idea, you name it) and compete in one of three categories—Health, Community and Gaming—to win some awesome prizes.

In addition to the hackathon, we’ve gathered an outstanding lineup of developers, technologists and leaders from inside M&T Bank to lead tech talks and share industry knowledge. You won't want to miss this.

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY    
5 - 5:45 pm Working in an Agile Environment - Nicole Smith Virtual
6 - 6:45 pm

Career Kick Start - Erika Tozer

Panel featuring Mike Zaharkin, Josh Monica, Jason Lamb

Virtual
     
SATURDAY    
8 - 9 am

Check In

Come let us know that you're here and ready to hack! Also pick up your swag and t-shirt!

Concourse
9 am - 10 am

Team Formation WorkshopArpan Shah and Donald Fung

Looking for a team? Join our team formation workshop and find teammates while brainstorming hack ideas.

CloudCover Conference Center
10 am

Hackathon Kickoff

Join us in the CloudCover Conference Center as we welcome you all to Meet & Hack 2022! Hacking commences at 10PM. Good luck!

CloudCover Conference Center
11 - 11:45 am

Test Automation - Thomas Haver

Teams that adopt automation often rush to automate everything they can – the automation firehose. Just because a scenario CAN be automated does not mean it SHOULD be automated. In this talk, we’ll learn how to automate both strategically and tactically to maximize the benefits of automation.

GOL 2730
12 - 1 pm

Lunch

Panera (vegetarian & vegan options available)

Concourse
1 - 1:45 pm

Code Organization & Style Joshua Haber

This talk gives you a look into the world of linters and static analysis. I will go over why is important to check your code and the simplicity of incorporating some of these rules into your projects. We will also cover some common software design patterns and how to structure a large project.

GOL 2740
1 - 1:45 pm

Software TestingThomas Haver

Lessons learned from a career in research science can be applied to QA, with parallels to industry product quality models. Testing techniques and product delivery processes from research science will aid not just testers but the entire team in delivering quality software.

GOL 2730
1 - 4 pm

Mock Interviews

Schedule a mock interview with an M&T Bank employee!

Virtual
GOL 2791 / 2793 / 2795 / 2797
2 - 2:45 pm

Kafka and Event-Driven ArchitectureDan Cochran

Learn about data streaming, events, and where they fit in a modern architecture. We will review core topics in this space and demonstrate them leveraging Apache Kafka as the event streaming platform.

GOL 2730
3 - 3:45 pm

Cloud Computing Mike Zaharkin

Learn more about what all the hype is around cloud computing, touching on several topics including service models (SaaS, PaaS & IaaS), virtualization, and cloud migration. A demo using AWS will be provided along with information on how you can get access to the cloud to learn more about what it has to offer.

GOL 2740
4 - 4:45 pm

Multistage Docker - George Colgrove IV

Learn more about how to make smaller, more secure, and efficient way of constructing images with Docker.  

GOL 2730
5 - 5:30 pm

DevOps Matt D'Accursio

Come learn about DevOps and how an organization strives to make improvements to their engineering lifecycle with the use of automation. We will review what is required to drive the transformation and some examples of existing pipelines we are using at the bank.

GOL 2740
5:30 - 6 pm

Blockchain Joe Caulfield

Come learn about one of the hottest topics in the software development industry today and discover why this revolutionary technology is poised to change the world.

GOL 2730
6 - 7 pm

Dinner

Chipotle (vegetarian & vegan options available)

Concourse
7 - 7:45 pm

Ransomware Dave Falgiano

Ransomware and extortion attacks are becoming more common place and can be seriously disrupting to businesses.  We will discuss what they are, the motivations behind these attacks, and how threat actors look to achieve their objectives.  With this in mind, we can discuss using real-world examples focusing on each component of the NIST Cybersecurity framework. This proactive approach before you have an attack better positions you to Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover from such an incident. 

GOL 2740
8 - 8:45 pm

Technology TriviaArpan Shah and Donald Fung

Come join us for a fun event! Join in teams of 1-4 as we go through a few rounds of trivia about technology. Each member of the winning team will get an Amazon gift card!

GOL 2750
     
SUNDAY    
8 - 9 am

Breakfast

Tim Hortons

Concourse
9 - 9:45am

How to Prep for the Coding InterviewArati Thapar

Today’s talk is to help you all prepare for the coding interviews and hoping some of you all would make it here at M&T. Most of the interviewers look for you to write clean, simple, meaningful and understandable code during the coding interview. Along with this, the interviewers also care for the time and space complexity of the code they’ll make you write during your interview. In today’s session, you’ll see how to prepare for a coding interview with a guide of tips, some examples, websites that’ll help you practice and study different data structures that’ll be potentially be used in your coding question and an open dialogue!“

Virtual Presenter,
GOL 2740
10 - 10:45 am

Containerization Taranjeet Kaur

Container Technology and Orchestration has gained a lot of momentum with increased focus on building Microservices which enable quicker IT response to Market Demands. It also touches aspect of how it changes different aspects of software lifecycle and how do Project teams need to think and act differently with the advent of this technology.

GOL 2730
11 - 11:45 am

Data Analytics Tony Huynh

Are you interested in how data analytics, engineering and data science come into play within the business?  Marketing is leading the charge to bring data driven use cases to life @M&T.  Please join us in this tech talk to get a sense of the landscape of data in business and discuss a few case studies!

GOL 2740
12 pm

Hacking Ends

All submissions due through DevPost by 12PM. Submission include a 5-minute video presentation of your project along with any additional project files and information.

 
11:30 - 12 pm

DevPortal at M&T Bank Puneet Nahata

See how DevPortal at M&T bank enables product teams to ship high-quality code quickly.

Virtual

GOL 2730

12 - 1 pm

Lunch

Wegmans (vegetarian & vegan options available)

Concourse
1 - 1:30 pm

Kahoot!Mike Zaharkin

If you attended all the Tech talks and paid attention, this is your opportunity to win a prize playing Kahoot! Come to the Conference Center at 1PM. Questions will be taken from each of the Tech talks so be prepared! Top 3 scorers will recieve a $50 Amazon Gift Card.

CloudCover Conference Center
1:30 - 2:15 pm

From RIT Student to TDP Joshua Haber

Current TDP and RIT alumni Joshua Haber talks about his experience at M&T Bank, and what he wishes he knew before joining the professional world. 

GOL 2740
2:30 - 3 pm

Winners Announced

All winners will recieve the appropriate prize listed in Prizes below.  In addition, winners will have the opportunity to have a 1:1 Virtual Coffee Chat with an M&T Technologist. 

CloudCover Conference Center

We’re committed to being accessible, inclusive, and beginner friendly. We’ll have a team of talented mentors available 24/7 via Discord for any hacking guidance you may need. Students uncomfortable with participating in person are invited to meet and/or hack remotely from their house or dorm.

Requirements

Teams will either submit a 5 minute video or conduct a 5 minute in person presentation showing off their project along with any additional project files and information. The presentation must address the following questions:

• Clearly describe your idea. What problem are you trying to solve/how will it add value? Who are your users?

• Explain your technical stack. What languages/tools/technologies did you use, and why?

• Where will you take it next?

• Any other notable features/results/takeaways?

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$9,860 in prizes

1st Place - Community Track

Samsung Odyssey G5 27” Gaming Monitor
(1 prize per team member)

1st Place - Health Track

Samsung Odyssey G5 27” Gaming Monitor
(1 prize per team member)

1st Place - Gaming Track

Samsung Odyssey G5 27” Gaming Monitor
(1 prize per team member)

2nd Place - Community Track

Corsair® K100 gaming keyboard
(1 prize per team member)

2nd Place - Health Track

Corsair® K100 gaming keyboard
(1 prize per team member)

2nd Place - Gaming Track

Corsair® K100 gaming keyboard
(1 prize per team member)

3rd Place - Community Track

CanaKit™ Raspberry Pi 4 Starter MAX Kit
(1 prize per team member)

3rd Place - Health Track

CanaKit™ Raspberry Pi 4 Starter MAX Kit
(1 prize per team member)

3rd Place - Gaming Track

CanaKit™ Raspberry Pi 4 Starter MAX Kit
(1 prize per team member)

Most Creative Hack

Amazon Echo Dot (4th Gen) and $50 Amazon gift card
(1 prize per team member)

Best Beginner Hack

Bose® SoundLink Color II
(1 prize per team member)

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Thomas Tribunella

Thomas Tribunella
Technology Development Program

Joshua Monica

Joshua Monica
Software Engineer

Joe Caulfield

Joe Caulfield
Software Engineer

Weston Marshall

Weston Marshall
Technology Development Program

Donald Fung

Donald Fung
Technology Development Program

Arpan Shah

Arpan Shah
Technology Development Program

Victoria Faltisco

Victoria Faltisco
Technology Development Program

Matthew Fitzgerald

Matthew Fitzgerald
Technology Development Program

Malkiel Asher

Malkiel Asher
Technology Development Program

Hollis Pauquette

Hollis Pauquette
Technology Development Program

Judging Criteria

  • Idea
    • Does your idea tackle a real-world problem/is your game fun? Who are your users? Where will you take the project next? How well did you present your idea?
  • Creativity & Originality
    • Is your idea or approach novel, creative, or original? What sets your idea apart from any competitors in this space?
  • Technical Challenge
    • How challenging is the problem you’re trying to solve? How well suited is your tech stack to the problem you’re trying to solve?
  • Solution Quality
    • Does your solution achieve the desired outcome? How polished and accessible is the user experience?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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