
PennApps X in 2014.
(Photo via Flickr user Andrew Mager, used under a Creative Commons license)

This story is part of "Technology" month of the Generocity Editorial Calendar. Find the series here.
The PennApps hackathon, one of the world’s largest college hackathons organized by University of Pennsylvania students twice a year, has become known for creating fun and often wacky creations.
But with the sheer scale of the hackathon, there’s been a lot of potential for hacks that address some real-world problems. At last year’s winter edition of the hackathon, a team of freshmen created a food donation app called Foodship and won PennApps’ Social Impact/Civic Hacking prize.
Then there’s Keriton, a breast milk management startup that recently repped Philly by winning the top prize at South by Southwest’s Impact Pediatric Health Pitch Competition this past March.
The idea and original prototype for Keriton, which won second place at last year’s PennApps, was created by Vidur Bhatnagar, a Penn graduate student who was inspired partly by his sister but also by a team of nurses from Penn Medicine’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit who spoke at the hackathon on the difficulties of managing and tracking breast milk for premature babies.
The nurses’ input to the hackathon came from a sponsored health care track from the Penn Center for Innovation. This year, in addition to that health care track, PennApps will host a social impact track, thanks to additional partnerships with Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship and the School of Nursing.
The event is set for Sept. 8 to 10.
Do you have a problem you'd like @Penn hackers to address during September's @PennApps? (deadline 8/4) https://t.co/qbFXj22OQf pic.twitter.com/xyPtZ4CLy3
— Penn Innovation (@PennPCI) August 3, 2017
The social impact track will continue the focus on addressing real-world challenges but also be about thinking up of “opportunities to create ‘smart cities’ – think access to healthy food, parent engagement to support student achievement, infrastructure etc.,” according to the website.
And both tracks are accepting submissions for challenges you want students to tackle, but act fast because the deadline for submissions is today.
Get on it -30-From our Partners
Reflect back, reimagine forward: How Ben Franklin Technology Partners is investing in regional impact
School named in honor of famous rapper is ‘cleaning up’ the streets of Wilmington with tech
When speculative technology meets West Philly
Generocity Philly
Meet Kim Andrews, new executive director for The Fund for Women and Girls

Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project (YSRP)
Director of Development and Communications
Apply NowTikTok is a unique blend of social media platforms — here’s why kids love it
The other side of the heroic nonprofit pivot to provide COVID-19 services? The toll on the mental health of staffers
Drexel professor’s app allows choir members to create music apart but together
Generocity Philly
Be the leader to bring a 26-year mission into the future in Chester County
Young Audiences NJ and Eastern PA
Arts Education Administrator (Hybrid)
Apply Now
Regional Housing Legal Services
Staff Attorney, Housing Development Legal Services
Apply Now
More Information