Kent State will host the state’s largest hack-a-thon Friday to Sunday at the University Library.

Senior computer science major Kevin Whalen said the goal of Kent Hack Enough is “to come up with something innovative, creative and new for computer-related technologies from scratch in one weekend.”

Whalen participated in last year’s hack-a-thon at Kent State as well as the country’s largest hack-a-thon, MHack, at the University of Michigan last month.

Working with three other students, Whalen’s team came in first place at Kent’s hack-a-thon last spring with an app called Webacta. He said the app “streams pictures based on searched terms found in tweet text and hashtags on Twitter.”

Kent Hack Enough will be Kent State’s third annual hack-a-thon, and Whalen said other universities are beginning to jump on the bandwagon.

University-sponsored hack-a-thons are relatively new, Whalen said, and have begun to gain momentum in the past few years.

Digital Sciences Director Robert Walker said the university will provide meals, break rooms and social events throughout the weekend for those participating in the hack-a-thon.

“This is a big movement,” Walker said, as people will travel from other states for this hack-a-thon, an event that brings passion and innovation into technology.

Students looking to get involved are able to join Kent State’s official hacking team, hacKSU. The group, Whalen said, is open to all undergraduate and graduate students regardless of major and skill levels.

To register for Kent Hack Enough, visit hacksu.eventbrite.com. Hacking begins at 9 p.m. Friday night. The event is completely free for students. Final projects are due at 11 a.m. Sunday morning.

For more information, visit the official hack-a-thon page at http://hacksu.cs.kent.edu/kent-hack-enough-2013/ .

Contact Taylor Williams at [email protected].