National Day of Civic Hacking

September 23, 2017 | National Day of Civic Hacking | Hyorim (Josh) Kim | BSI Senior, UX Design

“I had the chance to join a group of students to work towards a common goal: helping those in need with the diverse skillsets we have to offer. In particular, we gathered together to figure out how we can help the people in disaster situations get connected with others who are willing to help. We ventured into different ideas from updating crowd-sourced maps to researching the technological solutions within limited communication environments. I chose to conduct research on the possible technological solutions and found that wireless mesh networking may be of best application. I researched into existing companies that may be working with mesh networks and found some leads. In addition, we attended a conference call session with people all over the country (and in Europe!) to be debriefed about the disaster situations in both Puerto Rico and the US. We were notified through the call that there is a team working on the WMN in New York City, and are waiting on the follow-up to directly get in contact with the NYC team.

I attended the event with low expectations, but with high hopes of finding an interesting project to take on. Indeed I have a great lead in something interesting and possibly impactful! Although I wasn't able to personally contribute anything tangible at the hacking event, I came out of the event with an interesting project idea with a purpose. I am currently waiting on the follow-up.”