The latest episode of the “What’s Happening MoCo “podcast, which highlights people and programs important to the residents of Montgomery County, will feature a conversation with Elizabeth Qiu, an organizer of “MoCoHacks,” a 36-hour hackathon for all public high school students in the County. It also will address some of the challenges that women face in the IT field.
The new episode is now available.
The goal of MoCoHacks, said Ms. Qiu, “is to get [youth] really interested in computer science, teach them basic coding and other skills needed in the tech field.” She said that the hack-a-thon was an opportunity for students to compete, win awards and collaborate with peers.
MoCoHacks is a free, all-inclusive, 36-hour hackathon for all public high school students in Montgomery County. A hackathon is a coding marathon where students create a ‘hack’ (programming solution) addressing a problem they see around them. The hack can be big or small, serious or comedic. Throughout the event, there will be talks, workshops and tournaments.
MoCoHacks will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday. Learn more about the event at https://mocohacks.org/.
Two senior County technology professionals join Ms. Qiu during the episode. Shayna Taqi, who works in the County’s Change Management division, and Skyler Grubbs, Change Management specialist, share advice for women work who in or aspire to work in the information technology field.
In past episodes, host Derrick Kenny has talked with guests on a wide variety of subjects. The show’s guests have included elected officials, Montgomery employees who specialize in specific aspects of government, business leaders and entertainers who live in the County. New podcasts are released twice a month.
The on-demand video of the newest episode can be viewed via the What’s Happening MoCo Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WhatsHappeningMoCoPodcast. The podcast also can be heard via several popular podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts at https://bit.ly/whats-happening-moco, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio and others.
Residents and others interested in asking a question or suggesting a topic to be addressed in a future episode are encouraged to engage via the Facebook page or via e-mail at derrick.kenny@montgomerycountymd.gov.
What’s Happening MoCo podcast episode archives can be accessed by visiting the podcast’s webpage at https://montgomerycountymd.gov/CCM/whats-happening-moco-podcast.html.
