Texas A&M University prides itself on being strategically focused on moving the campus forward as a technological innovator. Recently, Texas A&M has been home to several large, student-led events focused on bringing the campus technology community together with students from other campuses and the professional technology community.

TAMUhack is an on-campus organization whose primary goal is to promote innovation outside of the classroom, helping students apply ideas and programming knowledge from formal computer science classes to practical applications of coding, app development, and source control. TAMUhack also hosts a hackathon invention marathon every semester. A hackathon is an event where a large number of people meet to engage in collaborative computer programming.

Sophia Lee, a senior technology management major from Katy, Texas, and president of TAMUhack says that she joined the organization because she wanted to find a community to bridge the gap between the classroom and the professional tech community.

"I wanted to find a community that went beyond the classroom setting," she said. The people I met through the hackathon community are all passionate about bringing their most creative ideas and skills to the table to create awesome products, and they all love giving back to the students."

TAMU Datathon is a student-led data science hackathon where students come from around the world to Texas A&M to learn about data science and machine learning. The inaugural event, held in October 2019, included attendees from five countries, applications from over 90 majors, and became the first Major League Hacking (MLH) datathon in the world.

Josiah Coad, a senior computer science major from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and president of the team that runs TAMU Datathon, said that hosting the first and only MLH data science hackathon puts Texas A&M in a distinctive position.

"Texas A&M is in a unique position to gain an international spotlight as the university leading the way in data science," says Coad. "The more we can tie in various departments and programs at Texas A&M, the more we can show its strength, not only in one department or college but across the university."

Lee agrees that the on-campus technology events benefit students greatly and, ultimately, the university.

"An event like TAMUhack brings innovation, growth, and creativity to Texas A&M. Students are able to interact with our corporate sponsors during the hackathon and are able to work on real-life challenges that companies face every day."

The future of IT is bright at Texas A&M as leadership focuses on advancing the university through technology and empowering students to do the same.