{"id":26513,"date":"2018-11-05T16:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T22:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=26513"},"modified":"2018-11-05T15:48:06","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T21:48:06","slug":"apsu-computer-science-student-wins-at-georgia-tech-hackathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2018\/11\/05\/apsu-computer-science-student-wins-at-georgia-tech-hackathon\/","title":{"rendered":"APSU computer science student wins at Georgia Tech hackathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin Peay State University (APSU)<\/h2>\n

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – Robyn Yates is having one heck of a hacking season representing Austin Peay State University (APSU).<\/p>\n

At the VolHacks hackathon in September at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, she and her Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) teammates won several top honors, including for the \u201cPi-Mail\u201d hack she and three other team members worked on.<\/p>\n

\"Austin<\/a>

Austin Peay State University senior Robyn Yates was part of a team that won two awards at VolHacks at the University of Tennessee and an individual award at HackGT at Georgia Tech.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

And at the HackGT hackathon October 19th-21st at Georgia Tech, Yates won again, this time on a hack she worked on by herself.<\/p>\n

She made a web-based game to help kids code, winning the Equity in Computing Prize from the Georgia Tech Constellations Center and honorable mention from Disney Tech.<\/p>\n

She called the game \u201cHeroes Code.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to create a simple game that encourages kids to learn valuable programming ideas while also having fun,\u201d Yates said.<\/p>\n

More than 1,000 students from 80 colleges and institutions attended HackGT, a 36-hour hackathon where participants worked around the clock to develop websites, apps and other high-tech innovations.<\/p>\n

Yates, Heroes Code and Marvel<\/h3>\n
\"APSU<\/a>

APSU student Robyn Yates\u2019 \u201cHeroes Code\u201d is a web-based game that allows budding programmers play a simple game that uses Marvel characters to teach coding.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEver since I discovered coding, I fell in love with the amazing feeling and problem-solving I could do,\u201d Yates, a senior studying computer science, said. \u201cI want to introduce kids to this same feeling because it is truly my passion.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids learning logic behind programming at a young age can really help them toward a great future.\u201d<\/p>\n

[320left]That was the inspiration behind Heroes Code, a game that allows players to access Marvel characters to play a game that teaches coding. The game uses simple commands that allow characters to move and attack the enemy.<\/p>\n

To create the hack, Yates integrated Marvel API into HTML and Javascript. Marvel API is a tool that helps developers create websites using Marvel\u2019s vault of comics.<\/p>\n

Judges asked Yates about challenges she faced: \u201cI have never done any web development or design work, so I really struggled to learn, but I ended up learning a lot and getting through most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"APSU<\/a>

APSU student Robyn Yates worked around the clock during the 36-hour HackGT.<\/p><\/div>\n

Yates and other Austin Peay students competed in the Mid-Central USA Regional of the International Collegiate Programming Contest that was held November 3rd.<\/p>\n

To Learn More<\/h3>\n