Hypercube was delighted to sponsor Prewired’s Summer Hack-a-Thon in July.

Prewired is a volunteer-run, weekly coding club for under-19s that helps young people experiment with technologies, learn to code, develop idea-generation and work in teams. The Summer Make-a-Thon is an exciting 2-day event which gathered 16 young tech enthusiasts, aged 11–14, who teamed up to tackle real-world problems using various technologies. Their innovative solutions were showcased to judges, parents, and attendees at the end of the weekend.

As Prewired’s board secretary, the charity is a cause close to my heart and I was delighted to support this year’s event alongside Hypercube’s Director Adam, who helped to judge the excellent solutions built by the future of tech talent.

Team Projects and Elevator Pitches

The teams got together to mind map potential problems and build a solution. The team’s were:

Team “Crafty Coders”: Focused on mobility impairment, they designed an extendable arm with a sensor to help people reach high places.

Team “Washington47”: Created an app with quizzes and information to help children without access to education.

Team ‘Cawillory’: Designed a prototype robot to manage litter during rubbish strikes, aimed at government councils.

Team ‘Asian Rice’: Developed a project to help people save money by providing video tips and tricks.

Team ‘Coast Cleaners’: Aimed at reducing littering by showing the impact on sea creatures, encouraging people to pick up their litter.

Event Highlights

The teams spent the weekend planning, designing on paper, and building their prototypes, with guidance from our mentors. At the end of the event, three guest judges, Adam Sroka, Karen Jewell, and Alexander Vasileff, evaluated the projects based on idea, design & usability, teamwork & project management, and presentation skills.

Prizes Awarded:

• Best Teamwork: Asian Rice, for excellent collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• Best Design: Coastal Cleaners, for creating impressive mini-games with custom sounds.
• Best Motivation: Washington 47, for perseverance despite challenges with text-based coding.
• Runner Up: Crafty Coders, for their cohesive teamwork and well-executed prototype.
• Overall Winner: Team Cawillory, for their complex prototype and well-explained real-world applications.

We were blown away by the talent of the teams involved. Events like these are vital for teaching young people both tech and soft skills. We look forward to next year’s Make-A-Thon and seeing more innovative solutions from these brilliant young minds!