More than 350 students participated in the second annual DeltaHacks student hackathon for change at McMaster University from Jan 16 to 17. Teams were given 24 hours to find an innovative way to address a real-world problem.

Inspiration came to Julia Cooke when she started thinking about her closet and all the clothes she doesn’t wear anymore.

What if an app existed to track how often the first year McMaster Arts & Science student wore articles of clothing and alerted her to consider donating unused items to charity?

With that, a hack was born. Cooke and teammates Madeeha Khan, Tasnim Noshin and Jenny Feng, all of whom are first year McMaster computer science students, spent 24 hours between Jan. 16 to 17 to create ‘Clothing Tracker.’

“I was thinking of something I would participate in,” said Cooke, one of 355 students who participated in the second annual DeltaHacks student hackathon for change at McMaster University. “Clothing is something that everyone has. You could contribute to social change by donating.”

The hackathon event brought together students from different academic backgrounds and universities, including Waterloo, Western, Queens and the University of Toronto, to find innovative solutions to problems and foster social change. Health care professionals, including several doctors, pitched problems for students to address. Teams had a maximum of 24 hours to come up with an idea and hack it together by creating everything from apps to games to innovative devices.

Melissa Lam, a second year mechatronics student and one of the organizers, said the event was about meeting people and developing new skills.

“When you have a broad subject (like social change) you have to be as creative as possible and push yourself to do something to get something tangible out of it,” Lam said.

First prize went to the ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ team for its Femoroacetabular impingement web diagnostic tool, which could help doctors detect when hip bones are abnormally shaped. Flood Watch took second prize for its sensor system that could act as an early warning device for natural disasters, such as floods. The Dana Network team earned third place for its innovative approach for connecting local restaurants and charities to reduce food waste.

DeltaHacks is organized by HackItMac, a club for students interested in learning, building and experimenting with different technologies.