Rocket Hacks brings tech-savvy students in Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio — Some of the area’s brightest up-and-coming minds gathered at the University of Toledo over the weekend for a 24-hour hackathon called Rocket Hacks, where students work collaboratively to develop tech-driven solutions to real-world problems.

Teams at events like the one at UToledo’s College of Engineering are given between 24 and 48 hours to complete their projects.

Bowling Green State University student Aryan Miriyala was part of a four-member team competing in the event.

“We just love coding,” Miriyala said. “We’re all computer science majors, and we kind of just like what we do. We like building stuff. This is a good opportunity to just come here and build stuff.”

Miriyala’s team focused on artificial intelligence, creating an AI-powered auto-grading tool to streamline feedback for students and professors.

“We’re trying to make a solution where auto grading happens with artificial intelligence,” said Miriyala. “So you upload stuff, you get feedback faster, so grading happens faster. It’s a good tool for the professors and the students, so they can get some feedback in time and work on more stuff.”

University of Toledo senior Karthikeya Jaghni, a Computer Science Engineering Technology major, hopes the experience will serve as a foundation for his future career.

“Hopefully, the project that we’re building can help out a lot of students and save a lot of time and resources,” said Jaghni.

Organizers say Hackathons promote creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving, making them a staple in the tech industry.

“We want Toledo to be known as a tech community as well as a manufacturing community,” said Maheen Asim, organizer of Rocket Hacks. “And we want to expand the tech community in Toledo as well as Midwest Ohio.”

As students race against the clock to develop their innovations, events like Rocket Hacks continue to highlight the growing impact of technology in the region.