VIScon, a computer science fair organised by computer science students at ETH Zurich, took place again in 2024. Priska Altorfer, President of SIG donna informatica and SI member, was available as a mentor during the hackathon. Ayşegül Barlas was responsible for the planning and organisation of the hackathon and wrote a report for us.
On Friday, 11 October, at 2pm, the lifts on the H floor of the main ETH building opened to let out the first participants of the VIScon Hackathon. Over the next hour, 80 programmers lined up in front of the reception desk to check in, receive their badges, shirts and goodie bags before being sent off to the opening ceremony at 3pm.
Over the weekend of 11-13 October, VIScon 2024 became annual highlight on this year’s calendar, sponsored by companies such as Ergon and ipt. Organised annually since 2018 by VIS, the association of computer science students at ETH Zurich, this event was aimed at anyone who wanted to deepen their knowledge or expand their network in the fields of computer science, engineering and entrepreneurship. In addition to insightful lectures and practical workshops, the hackathon provided a platform for teams to innovate intensively under the guidance of industry experts.
VIScon exists to fill a unique and important gap in the education of ETH students by providing hands-on, real-world experience that goes beyond the lecture hall and textbooks.
While ETH Zurich teaches theoretical knowledge at the highest level, VIScon complements this by immersing students in real-world applications and industry challenges. In workshops such as IoT Embedded Programming with CircuitPython, in which participants discover the world of the Internet of Things, and lectures such as Breaking and Entering: Why Social Engineering Attacks Work and How to Defend Against Them, students learn about the latest technologies and their practical applications. Events such as How to Make Formula 1 Drivers Obsolete by AMZ Racing and Empowering Developers with Crossplane also show how the principles learnt during the course can be translated into pioneering technologies and solutions. Through the exchange with industry leaders and participation in practice-orientated workshops and projects, VIScon offers students the opportunity to deal directly with current innovations and challenges. This gives ETH students a broader perspective and prepares them to actively shape the technology landscape after graduation.
In addition to the workshops and lectures, VIScon also offers an expo where various teams present their projects and innovations. Companies run stalls introducing students to possible career opportunities, while researchers present exciting projects and current studies. Another highlight is the participation of the ETH Game Lab, where students present the games they developed during the previous semester as part of the course. This expo offers participants the opportunity to gain a comprehensive insight into the latest developments and career prospects in the IT sector and to make direct contact with the people behind the projects. There is also a hackathon, which offers participants a platform to innovate in teams under the guidance of industry experts. As the head of the hackathon, I had the privilege of overseeing this segment. The hackathon challenged participants to develop an application from scratch in just 42 hours, providing an excellent opportunity for hands-on learning and problem solving. The motto was: learn to do it or fail. Necessities such as meals and camping beds were provided to ensure participants could fully focus on their projects, with the option to stay overnight at ETH for those who wanted to fully experience the coding experience.
Hackathon projects ranged from fun tools such as BoredBoard – an app that allows students to track and alleviate their boredom during lectures – to practical solutions such as LectureLinker, which centralises teaching materials from different platforms. Other creations included ETHGuessr, a GeoGuessr game adapted to the campus, and ETH-Overflow, a specialised Q&A platform for ETH students.
This year marked the second iteration of our Sidequests, an initiative that was introduced last year and improved this time around. These side activities, which participants were allowed to take part in once an hour, encouraged participants to take a quick break from their main projects and engage in fun and creative challenges. From MarioKart timed races to crafting creative LEGO scenes and a scavenger hunt for hidden fluffy rats, these quests provided additional opportunities for teams to improve their overall rankings and compete for better prizes.
Participants were predominantly computer science students from ETH, although the event was open to anyone interested. Experience ranged from first year students to experienced members of the VIS CAT committee.
The event culminated on Sunday afternoon with project demonstrations and presentations, where teams were able to showcase their hard work and ingenuity. This was followed by a well-deserved aperitif, which took place while the jury engaged in intense discussions. The substantial prize pool of CHF 5000 recognised the commitment and efforts of the participants and rewarded them for their potential to positively impact student life through their innovative applications.
Photo: Ergon Informatik
