CATE 2024: Connecting and engaging students with industry practice

What is Hackathon17? 

The University of Surrey hackathon team believe that learning is far more than the theory taught through lectures at our university. They also recognise that student aspirations for how they want to spend their time both at university and post-graduation is changing. The Deloitte Millennial Survey suggests 47% of Gen Z want to make a positive impact on the world. 

With this in mind, the Hackathon17 project was conceived as a cross-University initiative from the outset. Staff from all faculties rallied together, engaging with the Surrey Institute of Education for pedagogic guidance, and leveraging the Student Enterprise department’s entrepreneurial focus to maximise value and impact. By incorporating expertise and resources from across the institution, we aimed to provide a social entrepreneurship experience for students from all year groups and disciplines across the university.  

The hackathon team supported students to work together over two days to create and pitch innovative campaigns, products or services to address real-world problems that align with the UN SDGs and presented by industry partners including charities, start-ups and other larger businesses. This intensive hackathon process helps students develop the necessary skills needed to continue tackling the world's greatest challenges post-graduation into their careers.  

Student outcomes 

There is an invaluable impact on students’ learning experiences, including the development of enterprise and employability skills, but more importantly by students’ own perceptions and reflections on learning in a team-focused, practical way. Through participation, students have gained confidence, developed critical skills and explored potential avenues for entrepreneurial endeavours 

• Enterprise and employability 

A number of post-Hackathon initiatives include a compostable facemask business and a ‘Community Pantry’ to address the cost-of-living crisis, as well as a team prototyping sustainable sleeping bags from plastic waste and another student being inspired to volunteer with a local social enterprise. A now graduated MSc Digital Marketing student attributes his “seamless transition from university...to a thriving career” to the hackathon. 

• Self-reflections 

In a study undertaken in 2021 to prove our hackathon model for supporting students’ learning, 97% of respondents (n=59) agreed that working in an interdisciplinary team enhanced their educational experience. Team-based working was consistently cited as a successful aspect (years 1-3), with 95% (n=56) of respondents agreeing their teamwork skills had been enhanced.  

A mature Masters student said, “It was very invigorating to see my younger team members using software that I had no clue about to solve challenges within minutes.” 

A Biomedical undergraduate stated, “hackathons allowed me to learn skills like networking, enterprise and empathy - skills I did not learn in the classroom.” 

Impact of outcomes/outputs of collaborative work  

Our early successes led to a significant expansion of our collaborative efforts. We took a leading role in organising and designing hackathons for the UK-Singapore Alliance for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, held in December 2021 and 2022. These events brought together students from 16 universities across the UK and Singapore. Three Surrey students participated in the 2022 event, gaining valuable exposure to a global network of innovators and potential collaborators. 

Our expertise in hackathon design and execution also led to a consultancy role supporting the Surrey Institute of Education’s (SIoE) recent AI hackathon. This event featured problem statements from major companies like Microsoft, BAE Systems, Turnitin and Inspera, giving students the opportunity to tackle diverse real-world challenges. 

In 2022, our hackathon concluded with a prize trip to India, where Surrey launched its social leadership initiative, Project Chakra. This initiative empowered Surrey students to collaborate with multiple NGOs, UGPN partners and local leaders to improve the lives of those living in city slums. Through interventions in nutrition, sports, elderly care and health, our students made a tangible impact on these communities and developed their global awareness and citizenship, experiencing a level of engagement that goes far beyond typical university life. 

Students networked at the British High Commission and collaborated with local businesses, including chai wallas (tea sellers) and rag pickers, gaining a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship and community development. They engaged with staff at TATA and participated in workshops, offering them exposure to industry leaders and real-world problem-solving. 

Our commitment to internationalisation extended further when team members travelled to the University of Trinidad and Tobago and the University of Malmö, Sweden, to showcase the Hackathon17 project and observe entrepreneurial activities at these institutions. In Malmö, the team discovered that hackathons are credit-bearing in Scandinavia, which led them to present these findings at a university conference. This inspired our Hackathon17 team to advocate for credit-bearing hackathons at Surrey. 

The success of our efforts culminated in the evolution of our hackathon into a Global Graduate Award (GGA) in September 2023. This milestone was marked by a record-breaking number of student applications. The GGA, the first of its kind at Surrey, offers co-curricular credits for practical entrepreneurship and has garnered interest from numerous institutions across the UK, highlighting its innovative approach to enhancing hands-on entrepreneurial and employability skills. 

Colleagues involved in the hackathons shared positive feedback, with one noting: “Participating in hackathons with colleagues from across the University has enriched my teaching practice. It inspired collaborative approaches to designing learning and teaching that leverage diverse strengths, benefiting individual students.” 

Another remarked: “In large organisations, there’s always a risk of a ‘siloed mentality,’ and this project provided a refreshing chance to discover how colleagues operate across the University, enabling us to share best practices.” 

Impact of supporting colleagues and influencing support for student learning  

Our collaboration has transformed student experiences and influenced colleagues. By sharing our experiences and best practices, we’ve inspired fellow educators to consider running their own hackathons. In addition, one colleague’s experiences within the hackathon team directly inspired the creation of an intensive, week-long sprint-like project module due to be introduced in AY2024/25 on the Social Sciences Foundation Programme (the first known example of integrating hackathon approaches within core curricula at Surrey) and within a module in computer science called the ‘Greentech Jam’.  

One colleague notes how: “I used the hackathon experience to apply for my fellowship, as I had learnt many successful teaching practices [] during their hackathon, through the supportive nature of the team.”  

This culture of mutual support has become a cornerstone of our professional growth within our institution.  

“The hackathon not only provided a positive impact on the student experience, it gave lecturers, such as myself, the opportunity to network / engage with talented young people across a variety of disciplines. It has encouraged me to consider ways in which we can embed more interdisciplinary working into the curriculum.”  

Kat Mack is former student enterprise manager and is current Head of Engagement at Surrey Research Park. She has many years of experience both volunteering and working in a number of social impact causes and charities as well as enterprise support. 

Dr Shelini Surendran is associate dean (international) of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, with a strong interest in social entrepreneurship.