Hacks with Friends 2024
Part one of 2024 Hacks with Friends (HWF) took place on November 14–15 at Arbor Lakes. HWF is a spirited event open to all University of Michigan technology professionals and advocates, regardless of role. Participants joined a team to build a project (a.k.a. “hack”) from beginning to end and show it off in a fun, friendly competition that just might become something that could benefit the entire university!
A cross-section of U-M technology professionals came together for this hackathon: brainstormers, visionaries, project managers, analysts, developers, UX designers, documentation specialists, designers, security specialists, trainers, desktop support specialists, cheerleaders, and more. Attendee picked up new skills, made new connections, explored new technologies, and strove to find innovative ways to resolve problems.
Hacks with Friends is in its 11th year and is sponsored by the U-M office of the vice president for IT and CIO. See the results of past Hacks with Friends events to discover how the event has evolved over the years.
Round 1 of Voting: 3-Minute Presentations
On the afternoon of the second day of the event the 2024 Hacks with Friends teams demonstrated what they had accomplished during the hackathon. Each team showed off the fruit of their work in a 3-minute presentation to a live audience vying for their vote. Attendees and livestream audience members voted for their top three hack presentations. The top four 2024 Hacks with Friends teams move on to the final round of the competition.
New Final Round for 2024 Hacks with Friends
To provide the finalist more time to hack and expand the reach of what Hacks with Friends is all about, we are taking the 2024 Hacks with Friends Finals on the road to the Winter Innovation Expo (WIE) on December 10.
Representatives from the top four 2024 HWF teams will make their final 10-minute presentation in front of a distinguished panel of judges and WIE attendees during the main opening session of the Expo. Judges will deliberate and winners will be announced during the closing session of the Expo. In addition, each of the top teams will submit a poster of their hack to display during the Expo Poster Session. All registered WIE attendees will qualify to cast their vote for the People’s Choice Award.
The Top Four Finalists
Listed by pitch number, Not rank order.
Pitch #6: Agent Smith: A Community Platform to Build, Clone, and Share AI Agents
Team members: Jeffrey Rosczyk, CHCR (Pitch leader); Andrew Staley, Michigan Medicine - HITS DevOps (Graphic & Coding Support); Alan Robertson, Michigan Medicine - Central Staffing Resource (Documentation & Brainstorming); Toan Tran, SRC - Survey Methodology (Python/Backend Dev); Stephanie Cyrill, CHCR (Design); Claire Chen, CHCR (Design); Chris Marr, CHCR (Frontend Dev); Mike Nowak, CHCR (Full Stack Dev); Shelly Chang, CHCR ( Software Engineer); Brent Bendes, HITS DevOps (Engineer); and John Walsh, HITS DevOps (Support)
Goal: The goal is to design and prototype a collaborative app platform where users can not only create new AI agents but also fork and enhance existing ones, enabling continuous knowledge expansion and adaptation. This platform supports a wide range of applications, from healthcare to education, making AI customization accessible and practical for both individuals and specialized communities.
Pitch #7: Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders Today - Shaping the Perfect Internship Experience Together
Team Members: Claire Tucker, ITS Admin Operations, Community Programs Outreach Coordinator (Co-Pitch Lead); Jared Walfish, ITS Infrastructure, Information Systems Manager (Co-Pitch Lead); Bryan Martyn, HITS, Director of Software Delivery; Kristen Bolger, ITS Support Services, Depot Operations Manager
Goals:
- Increase the number of interns that the program can support by increasing the amount of and the diversity of internship jobs available to applicants
- Encourage managers and promote the idea that hosting interns is a valuable opportunity for both for the department as well as the individual supervisor taking them on
Pitch #11: Extend Maizey to API Directory
Team Members: Kranthi Bandaru, ITS - Data Science Practice (Pitch Leader); Wenbin Ji, Michigan Medicine - Data Collab (Business Analyst); Kali Yilmaz, Medical School - Advanced Genomics Core (Developer); Yu Feng Lin, Information Analysis BS (Student & Brainstorm Ideas); Lance Sloan, ITS - Teaching and Learning (Developer); Michael Bleed, Dental Informatics (Developer); Payal Dangi, Michigan Medicine - Data Collab (Documentation Lead); Prithvi Dasgupta, ITS - Data Science Practice (Developer); Pushyami Gundala, ITS Teaching and Learning (Developer); Chris Rowland, ITS SysOps Webhosting (Developer); Sinji Yang, LSA Technology Services (BI Analyst & Tester); Yuying Tian, Michigan Medicine (Developer)
Goal: Have a Maizey project or a website as an entry point where the user can ask questions related to University data and get accurate information instead of navigating through multiple websites to view the same information. We also want to provide an authoritative source of information by utilizing the API Directory APIs which source from the PeopleSoft system and Enterprise Data Warehouse.
Pitch #14: Documentation Makeover Bot
Team Members: Dan Powell, ITS SysOps Services & Ops (Pitch Leader & Presenter); Dragan Lazin, Dearborn ITS (Systems Analysts); Kyle Espinoza, ITS SysOps Services & Ops, (Developer, Promoter & Documentation Specialist); Jamie Laundree, ITS SysOps Services & Ops, (Developer); Leslie Bell, LSA TS HPC & Storage (Developer); Mike Porter, Dentistry - Dental Informatics (Documentation Specialist); Ruth Shamraj, HITS MDC MI Data Collab (Documentation Specialist); Kristin Kovarik, ITS SysOps Services & Ops, (Developer & Presenter)
Goal: Analyze our current document repositories using Maizey, in order to create a new set of well-structured, deduplicated documents that are optimized for easy integration into a more organized and centralized repository. This initiative will enhance the accessibility, reliability, and efficiency of our internal documentation, ensuring that it is both scalable, searchable, and user-friendly for future use. Accessibility is key when it comes to documentation that is inclusive for all so we are working to develop that into our product under the guidance of SPG 601.20
2024 Pitch Track Categories
This year’s pitches fit into one of three tracks:
- Gen AI Track: Unlocking the Power of Artificial Intelligence
Pitches in this track delve into the transformative potential of generative AI. They foster collaborative learning and growth to create groundbreaking AI solutions to evoke positive ramifications on higher education at U-M. - Technology Track: Revitalize Traditional Hacks and Bring Ideas to Life
This is the “classic” hacking track! Pitches in this track tackle those back-burner projects that have the potential to make a significant impact at U-M. Pitches in this track seek to refine existing tools or develop a new solution by focusing on those creative ideas that often get sidelined. - Human-Based (Non-Code) Track: Empowering People, Enhancing Processes
The “human-based” track is designed for pitches that would enhance non-technical aspects of the IT environment, such as leadership, professional development, change management, mentoring, or diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Participants come together to address common challenges, develop new processes, innovate business practices, drive meaningful change, and improve the U-M IT ecosystem.
Review the 14 pitch proposals for hacks submitted by colleagues around the Michigan IT community for this years competition. Everyone selected a pitch team to join when they registered to attend HWF.
2024 Hacks with Friends Planning Team
- Joseph Lubomirski - UM-Dearborn ITS (Co-Chair)
- Kenny Moore - ITS (Co-Chair)
- Samy Ali-Khodja - College of Engineering
- Jennifer Wilkerson - ITS
- Joel Iverson - ITS
- Kim Wooton - ITS
Questions and More Information
Send questions, ideas, and feedback to: [email protected]