Hackathon generates over 100 ideas to combat Covid-19

© Stuartmiles99 - LauzHack - an online hackathon held by an EPFL student association in early April - proved to be a big hit. Over 100 project teams worked day and night to develop applications for mitigating the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. Three of the applications, including one that makes it easier to keep in touch with the elderly, were selected for an award through a public vote. The 600 people who took part in LauzHack performed minor miracles in just 72 hours, thanks to an unprecedented cross-disciplinary collaboration. Thanks to its fully online format, this hackathon attracted three times as many participants as usual, and participants were freed from the constraints of working on site. Project teams collaborated via a shared communication platform and benefitted from an additional day as well as advice from experts from a range of fields spanning materials science, life science, economics and finance. The three award-winning applications were selected through an online vote.