Four teams were awarded a total of $10,000 out of the 90 individuals who participated in Rockwell Automation’s C++ challenge called “24 to Code,” which took place last week.
The team that placed first received $4,000 and were also offered summer paid internships, a Rockwell Automation spokesperson said. The second-place team received $3,000, the third-place team received $2,000 while another received honorable mention and $1,000.
Using real data from one of Rockwell’s smart manufacturing operations, participants were asked to use their imagination and programming skills to solve an industrial software challenge.
Developers who competed in the challenge ranged from high school students to experienced professionals, said Sabha Musteif, IT manager at Rockwell Automation. Participants came from a variety of backgrounds, including engineers, developers, software engineers and students.
Through the hackathon, Rockwell Automation hopes to build its talent pipeline while showing that tech jobs are also present in the manufacturing space.
“The goal of the hackathon was to associate our brand with innovation and raise community awareness and excitement about Rockwell Automation,” said Chris Nardecchia, Rockwell Automation senior vice president and chief digital and information officer. “We have been in the community for over 100 years and we want everyone to know that there are exciting and innovative companies solving interesting problems and expanding human possibility right in your own backyard.”
