LVHack is geared toward technology enthusiasts who like to work collaboratively on new inventions.
View full size
Art Lukoff, left, and Dan Dagen, right, work on a prototype of "The Rain Pumper," a proposed home garden irrigation system, at LVHack, a local hackathon, today.
Lehigh University juniors Michael Toth and Greyson Parelli last weekend invented a digital critter that starts eating text on the screen if you’re spending too much time on Facebook or Twitter.
This weekend, the pair is working on a website filter program that lets users view websites in different themes, such as 1920s newspaper type or, like the Matrix, all green and black.
This is what a hackathon is all about.
The Lehigh Valley is hosting its second annual hackathon this weekend. LVHack, an event for technology enthusiasts who like to collaborate on new inventions, began Friday night and continues Sunday at the Northampton Community College’s South Side campus in Bethlehem.
“For people who want a vibrant technology community in the Valley, we want to make these events possible,” said Tim Lytle, one of the founders of Lehigh Valley Tech, which organized the event.
Lehigh Valley Tech also organizes monthly meet-ups and what's planned to be an annual Startup Weekend, which debuted in November. The Startup Weekend is geared toward more developed ideas that participants hope to manufacture, while LVHack is more for casual or fun ideas.
“Some people hunt — I come to hackathons,” said Jason Lotito, a Telford, Pa., resident participating in his second LVHack. “It’s our sport.”
Lotito, who works for social networking website meetme.com, won last year’s LVHack by creating a messaging application that allows autistic children to use pictures on smartphones and tablets to communicate.
About two-thirds of the estimated 60 participants were at their first hackathon, including a group creating a home garden irrigation system. The proposed invention collects rainwater in a barrel and then funnels it into a tubing system to perfectly distribute water in a garden.
“I think a casual gardener might be interested, especially someone like me who is lazy,” said Art Lukoff, of Lower Macungie Township.
Lukoff works as an electrical engineer and heard about the hackathon at the Lehigh Valley Tech monthly meet-ups. He said he found the event worthwhile because of how quickly ideas were developed.
“We have some hardware already,” he said of the irrigation system prototype. “I think it’s great.”
The Lehigh students, Toth and Parelli, said hackathons are a fun break from college coursework. And attending a hackathon in Philadelphia landed them internships this summer at Yahoo.
“It’s really easy to get distracted from a project you have — here, you just stay and get it done,” said Toth, who along with Parelli worked through the night on their website filtering program called Webstagram, a play on the popular online photo filter tool Instagram.
Even more participants will likely stay overnight tonight to finish their projects before Sunday’s awards presentation, said Mark Koberlein, another Lehigh Valley Tech founder.
“For hackers and programmers, this is recreation,” he said.