Materialise Malaysia Hack-a-Thon Focuses on Innovation and Community

The stereotype of the hacker is someone who is frequently alone, working obsessively in isolation, on their next big project. But this is not always the case. Hackers are not by any means all shy social misfits, and more and more we have cultural events, like hack-a thons, that are a testimony to this fact. A hack-a-thon can be an incredible event because people get together, with all of their intellectual and electronic resources, and collectively collaborate to make things that may have been otherwise unimaginable when working in isolation. These kinds of events truly summarize the open-minded intellectual and creative spirit of the maker culture, where sharing is the commonplace standard, and collaboration making great stuff trumps whose name goes on it in the end. Who cares? These hackers are having so much fun they have little time to keep track of exactly who did what when: they just want to hack more.

In this spirit, Materialise acknowledges how productive and positive hack-a-thons can be for producing more community around shared technological interests. Last May, Materialise Malaysia sponsored a hack-a-thon for its employees (see above photo). Participating teams, which consisted of at least 1 software engineer and 1 non-software engineer from different departments, were challenged to come up with proofs and prototypes related to Materialise’s core interests: 3D printing and 3D object manipulation. The participants were allowed to use whatever platform they chose, like “3D scanning & rendering, web databases, mobile utilities, and gesture recognition,” and one day later, many projects were produced that would be difficult to conceive and realize in the course of a normal business day.

Coming off that experience, Materialise Malaysia wants to open up the hack-a-thon idea to anyone interested in 3D printing design and software development. The focus here is on two categories: innovative use of 3D printing technologies and impactful use of 3D printing technologies for the community. Other aspects of the hack-a-thon include cash prizes up to RM4,000 and 3D printed trophies. Terms and conditions, like the rule that each team can have up to 5 people, can be found here.

Technical support will be provided to participants during the event, including on-hand Materialise engineers, and the idea is to get as many people interested in the event as possible. Materialise has 25 years of 3D printing experience, and this is just one of the many ways you can benefit from their technological expertise and longevity in the industry.

So, if you are interested in attending this Hack-a-thon, it takes place February 20 – 21, 2016. There will be parking available, prizes, 3D printed souvenirs, and there will even be some internship opportunities. You can read more about this event on the Facebook event page, and registration closes on February 17,  so be sure and sign up soon if you are interested. Happy Hacking! Planning to attend? Discuss in the Materialise Malaysia 3D Printing Hack-a-Thon forum over at 3DPB.com.