MARTIN, Tenn. – Five computer science students from the University of Tennessee at Martin recently represented the university at “VolHacksIII,” hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This is the second year for UT Martin students to participate in this 36-hour competition, which asks students to develop new products, tools or devices.

The event featured 160 participants from across the country working in teams to submit 70 final projects. UT Martin students Chris Humphreys, a senior from Kuna, Idaho, and Brayden Faulkner, a junior from Henderson, won an award in the category for “Best Serverless Full-Stack Project” for their project called “Code Counter,” an idle Alexa game.

The students were given a Raspberry Pi 3 with a full Internet of Things expansion kit from the competition’s sponsor, SAIC Inc. A Raspberry Pi 3 is a small computer, and the “Internet of Things” refers to the network of devices such as vehicles and home appliances that can be embedded with software and interconnected via the Internet. This prize package will allow the students to continue programming on their own.

Fellow students Matthew Austin, a senior from Jackson; Brett Whitson, a sophomore from Union City; and Lucian Freeze, a junior from Martin, also competed. Together, they created “SonicArmonica,” a musical device made with the use of ultrasonic sensors.

Dr. Kathleen Ericson, assistant professor of computer science and hackathon mentor, says the university has been working to become more competitive at large competitions. Hackathon practices and events are sponsored by the UT Martin chapter of the local Association for Computing Machinery.

For more information on the Department of Computer Science and related student activities, contact Dr. Joshua Geurin, associate professor and department chair, at <a href="mailto:jguerin@utm.edu">jguerin@utm.edu</a>.

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PHOTO ID: (l-r) Chris Humphreys, a senior from Kuna, Idaho; Brayden Faulkner, a junior from Henderson; Lucian Freeze, a junior from Martin; and Matthew Austin, a senior from Jackson, are four of the five UT Martin students who represented the university at “VolHacksIII,” hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Not pictured is Brett Whitson, a sophomore from Union City. &lt;/mailto:jguerin@utm.edu"&gt;