BackHackathon 2021

Odysseus organized its 2^nd Annual Hackathon Competition on 27^th February 2021. This year the event was a hybrid event with more than 50 participants from office and/or home. They worked together with great zeal and enthusiasm to turn their ideas into apps, all while maintaining social-distance and following safety protocols.

Odysseus Hackathon is usually a 24-hour session that includes scoping, development, and testing of the applications. Five teams participated in the competition, each comprised of engineers, QA, and design resources. Each team scoped, designed, and developed a prototype in 24 hours and presented their creation the following Monday. There are several shared resources that assist each time and a great cheerleading group that helps keep the energy levels high. A mentorship group including Dragos, Jay, Rignesh and others were available throughout the event to offer guidance as and when needed.

After a 24-hour break, the teams had the opportunity to show the entire organization and the management team what they had built. We had 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd prize awards from the judges, who score the teams on idea, code, # of errors in code and presentation skills.

The winning team – The Explorers, built a competitive air and hotel packaging rates solution which can be offered directly on B2B and B2C sites. The awards included participation certificates, monetary rewards, medals, and some fun gifts!

In the Odysseus moto of work hard, play hard, great food, fun activities and virtual catch-up calls were organized that kept everyone motivated and engaged. It was a great example of teams that share a passion for technology and teamwork to come together for a common goal. We all achieved our Mission Statement of “Driving efficiencies through Innovation” that weekend!

The event was a huge success and a welcome team activity during these challenging times.