Author: Kayla Dungee

CivicHacks 2025 Recap: A Weekend of Innovation, Collaboration, and Impact

CivicHacks 2025 brought together 192 students from diverse backgrounds for a high-energy, impact-driven hackathon at the Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences. With stunning views of Boston from the 17th floor, students spent two days collaborating on technology-driven solutions to real-world challenges. Guided by mentors, industry experts, and fellow hackers, participants turned ideas […]

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2025 Civic Tech Hackathon Breaks Record in Attendance and Creativity

Last week’s Civic Tech Hackathon proved that we’re in good hands when it comes to the next generation of students influencing the future of technology.  On February 22-23, 2025, Boston University’s Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences transformed into a hub of innovation for the 2025 Civic Tech Hackathon. In record turnout for the […]

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BU Spark! Hosts Welcome Back Mini Hack, Empowering Students to Tackle Social Challenges

Boston University students create solutions for voter access, financial inclusion, and mental health Boston University’s innovation hub, BU Spark!, kicked off the academic year by hosting their annual Welcome Back Mini Hack on October 5, 2024. Designed as a gateway into tech for underclassmen, this hackathon introduces new students to the world of coding, collaboration, […]

Civic Tech Hackathon Demonstrates the Power of Public Interest Technology for Second Year

Students from across the country participated in a two-day hackathon, spearheaded by Tech for Change, to solve society’s most pressing challenges. From data breaches to nationwide outages, technology is constantly battling against alarming complications. But there’s a new generation of students who believe technology should be used to foster a better and more equal society. […]

Uplifting Communities Through Innovation: Demo Day Fall 2023

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years at Demo Day, it’s that innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. That would explain why students, faculty, staff, and Spark! partners alike gathered between Floors 1 & 2 of the BU Center for Computing & Data Sciences to bear witness to Fall 2023 Demo Day. Demo Day […]

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Spark! Demo Day Fall 2022 Changes Locations and Sets Record

By now, it’s essentially a fact that Spark! students continuously show up and show out, and Fall Demo Day 2022 was no different. In record fashion, almost 220 people came together in the Questrom School of Business Auditorium in person and virtually to witness what’s been a semester’s worth of innovation for students in the […]

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BU’s Center for Computing and Data Sciences, the University’s Most Environmentally Sustainable Building, Officially Opens Doors

It wouldn’t be a proper opening of the most environmentally sustainable building that Boston University has ever seen if it wasn’t in a climactic fashion. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stood alongside BU President, Robert A. Brown, distinguished members of CDS faculty, City Counselor Kenzie Bok, and Dean of Arts & Sciences, Stan Stan Sclaroff, for the […]

Spark!’s Annual Mini Hack Helps Sustainability Initiatives Thrive

For most of us, a standard 9 to 5 day usually means slowly chipping away at project. For the Welcome Back Mini Hack participants, they only had eight hours to create an entire game or app at Spark!’s annual hackathon. This year, the festivities were amplified with a newly added partner to the mix, SHPE-BostonU. “Today we fostered […]