Cheers reverberated throughout downtown Charlotte as the team of coders from Spelman College displayed their tech prowess and masterful presentation skills to take the top prize at the 9th Annual BE Smart Hackathon hosted by American Airlines. Held in the Queen City for the first time, the team ranked among the “best of the best” among the event’s largest gathering to date: 205 students from 30 historically Black colleges and universities nationwide.
In testing the technical and presentation skills, each team was charged with using AI to develop apps to positively impact communities. The Spelman team, Protege, comprised of seniors Brianna Bray, A’laysia Miller-Chambliss, Morgan Lee, and Jasmine Singleton, used the entire 24 hours allowed to develop every aspect to ultimately win the judging. The winning team received DJI Drones Mini 4 Pro, MacBook Air, and 100 miles from American Airlines. “We are very excited about the news,” says Bray of the team’s first-time victory. “We wanted to ensure that we created a resource for the community.”
Teams from Philander Smith University in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama, won second—and third-place prizes, respectively. Morgan State University received the judges’ highest technical score.
BLACK ENTERPRISE CEO Earl G. Graves, Jr., says, “I am so proud of our BE Smart Hackathon and its participants. It has met its goal of providing a showcase for HBCU students to display their technical expertise and gain exposure to the top companies in global business — all of which have business models driven by tech.”
American Airlines’ Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Global People Operations Cedric Rockamore was also excited about the shift in the Hackathon’s venue to Charlotte, the airline’s second-largest hub. He asserted that the Hackathon allows American Airlines to build a diverse talent pipeline throughout the tech industry. American Airlines hired about 50 professionals from Hackathon participants during its sponsorship of the competition.
Lowe’s, Manulife/John Hancock, the City of Charlotte, NASCAR, and Teradata were the other sponsors of this year’s Hackathon.
The dynamic, four-day event provided scores of students with an array of opportunities to gain a foothold in the tech industry and create pathways for their financial and professional lives in the future.
During the Sponsor Fair, the students made possible connections for employment and career advice.
Another pre-hack feature was the comprehensive money management workshop from Fidelity Investments, “Save, Spend,” in which students learned about the power of compounding and other financial tools to position them for long-term wealth building.
The session on NASCAR IP Ownership was extremely valuable. Nichelle Levy, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, and Head of Privacy, provided a workshop to guide young tech professionals on copyright protection, technology agreements, and compliance issues.
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