HackFest 2018

On 21 July we hosted a HackFest event at Bernadino Heights High School in Kraaifontein. It was a playful celebration of empowerment through technology that took the form of a hands-on expo, with exhibitors inviting everyone into the marvellous world of programming. Moving beyond just exhibiting something interesting that was programmed, it was about making it accessible, and opening everyone’s eyes to the possibilities.

A massive thanks to Bernadino Heights High School for the venue, and to all of the exhibitors:

Electronics

• Johan Beyers and Steph Henning from the Arduino Cape Town community.

Gaming

• Ryan Mazzolini and Sunrise Wang with Arcade Finger Twister and Super Massive Crate Dash.
• Francois van Niekerk with Jetstream.
• Beat Attack developed by Steven Tu.

Live Coding

• Aragorn23 was the live coder — Live coding is the programming of improvised music as a live performance.

Virtual Reality

• Marinda McOwen and Ruan Stahnke from VirtualWorld.

Robotics

• Olwethu Mhlana from Edro Robotics.

Science

• Prof Ben Loos, Jurgen Kriel and Sholto de Wet from the Neuro Research Group at Stellenbosch University.

Animation

• Carike Cronje, a local freelance illustrator and animator.
• The Cape Town International Animation Festival Best of CTIAF 2018 animation reel was also screened, thanks to CTIAF festival director Dianne Makings.

WeCode24
We had a stand of our own, demonstrating what our learners have been programming, ranging from graphics to animation and games, and micro:bit devices. We also had a severed Terminator head — whose vision system we had hacked into 😉 — watching everyone and tracking their faces, and a demonstration of hacking a television remote control signal with a micro:bit. Serious fun!

We look forward to seeing you at our next HackFest!