DeltaHacks celebrates 11 years of empowering students to innovate and create positive change across various fields through hackathon
On Jan. 11 and 12, 2025, DeltaHacks hosted its 11th annual hackathon for change in the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning, dedicated to empowering students to create positive change in their communities through projects in health care, sustainability, education and technology.
This year, approximately 500 people participated in the 24-hour hackathon, developing innovative projects while engaging in networking opportunities and workshops. After the event, participants presented their projects the following day to a panel of judges who evaluated them based on social impact, technical skill, originality and presentation.
DeltaHacks organizes four main hacking challenges, each focusing on a broad category such as best environmental hack, best productivity hack, best health hack and best community-building hack. Participants are encouraged to create projects that align with these categories.
Additionally, DeltaHacks hosted sponsor challenges, where sponsors organized specific hacks. In an interview, Parisha Nizam, co-president of DeltaHacks, mentioned that the National Society of Black Engineers and Procter & Gamble partnered on a challenge aimed at creating a financial app to help students in the Black community overcome biases when seeking financial assistance and resources.
In addition to the hackathon, DeltaHacks organized a variety of workshops, including sponsor-led sessions like the Dyson Fan Event, Apple Swift Challenge and an Introduction to Cohere workshop. Professional development opportunities were also offered, such as a Resume Roast and a guide to preparing a strong hackathon presentation. To foster community, DeltaHacks hosted fun activities, including a Fire Noodle challenge, karaoke night and late-night games.
Nizam highlighted that the hackathon kicked off with an opening ceremony featuring speeches from key sponsors, including Reserve Power, Swift, Manulife and Procter & Gamble, along with a performance by the McMaster Marching Band.
“Our team really worked hard on elevating the hacker experience. We worked hard on just making the overall organization better. I think our food choices were really good too. This year, we were also able to get an actual photo booth, where we had our own themed photo prints,” said Nizam.
Our team really worked hard on elevating the hacker experience. We worked hard on just making the overall organization better.
Parisha Nizam, Co-President
DeltaHacks
Nizam noted that DeltaHacks focuses on catering to the local community and collaborating with sponsors. According to Nizam, unlike many other hackathons that have a more general focus, DeltaHacks is specifically dedicated to creating positive social impact.
“We’ve seen people coming out of the hack saying they learned something new from the workshops they attended, or they gained new friendships, or they actually landed internships because of the sponsors that are there. There's a lot of opportunities for people to actually get something out of the hackathon while also having fun,” said Nizam.
We’ve seen people coming out of the hack saying they learned something new from the workshops they attended, or they gained new friendships, or they actually landed internships because of the sponsors that are there. There's a lot of opportunities for people to actually get something out of the hackathon while also having fun.
Parisha Nizam, Co-President
DeltaHacks
The project titled WhaleBeing won first place and the Dyson Innovation Challenge with their web app, which features a prediction model that maps how ship routes interact with blue whale habitats.
Nizam shared that, for the first time this year, DeltaHacks aimed to give back to the community by allowing the first-place winner to select a charity to receive a $500 donation. WhaleBeing chose to donate the funds to a whale conservation organization.
Nizam noted that while the hackathon is their main event, DeltaHacks encourages students to participate in club events and workshops held throughout the year. For more information, interested individuals can visit their Instagram page.
C/O Jessica Yang
North Korean human rights advocacy group HanVoice is helping refugees resettle in Canada
According to Human Rights Watch, North Korea’s government is among the world’s most repressive, severely limiting the freedoms of its citizens. The North Korean government has been found to have committed numerous crimes against humanity.
HanVoice, founded in 2007, is a Toronto-based organization advocating for North Korean human rights. Originally founded by three law students invested in the North Korean cause, HanVoice has since grown into a nation-wide network of activists.
With over 300 members, HanVoice’s work has been focussed on resettling North Korean refugees in Canada and hosting international human rights training sessions for Canadian students. At McMaster University, HanVoice McMaster is one of HanVoice’s 15 chapters across the country.
“After watching a documentary [about North Korea, the founders] were looking around online for different causes to get involved and they found nothing in Canada so they decided they would start their own,” said Taylor Boss, Co-President of HanVoice McMaster.
HanVoice has been advocating for Canada to accept North Korean refugees for the past eight years, according to their website. This advocacy involved meeting with over 200 policymakers, testifying numerous times in the House of Commons and making multiple appearances on national news networks.
Finally, on Oct. 26, HanVoice announced a pilot program allowing Canadians to privately sponsor North Korean refugees.
The program will aim to bring five North Korean families from Thailand, where many North Korean refugees are currently situated, to Canada. The program will specifically target women, who are often victims of gender-based violence.
Emma Baliat, Co-President of HanVoice McMaster, highlighted that Canada will be the third country globally to accept North Korean refugees, after South Korea and the United States. The Canadian program is unique in that it allows Canadians to privately sponsor North Korean families.
Boss added that many Canadians take pride in the country’s willingness to accept refugees but that the North Korean cause has still been ignored and that, in some cases, North Koreans have been deported from Canada.
Baliat and Boss both highlighted that everyone can make a difference, including those in the McMaster community, even if the issue seems inaccessible.
“As we've seen in the McMaster community, a lot of people don't really know what the journey is, or they think that the North Korean refugee issue is something that's impossible to help with. [They think that] North Korea is so far off, [that] there are so many restrictions and there's no way it's a cause that we will be able to contribute to. And so I think that's what hinders people from actually looking to see how they can help,” said Baliat.
Boss added that this perception of North Korea is largely due to media portrayals, which often depict the country as being isolated, removed from the rest of the world and impossible to access or help.
“Every time that [the media portrays] it like that, it really doesn't help anyone because this is an issue that we can be involved with. These are real people and real lives who are managing to escape and they have stories that we want to help share,” said Boss.
HanVoice McMaster has been raising money to contribute to the resettlement of five families in Canada, with a fundraising goal of $2000.
Students at McMaster can help support the North Korean cause by donating to HanVoice McMaster or reach out to HanVoice on their website.
C/O Yoohyun Park
Pizza Pizza becomes the first major sponsorship signing for the Marauders this season
One of the largest pizza companies in Canada, Pizza Pizza, has entered a partnership with the Marauders as of Oct. 29.
Pizza Pizza has over 500 locations across Canada and has played an important role in the communities that they have served since their foundation date in 1967. The pizza company had more than $458 million in gross sales in 2018, making it the most successful Canadian pizza brand by far.
What exactly does this partnership mean for the Marauders? Would it provide better financial stability to the McMaster sports association? Would it benefit the performance from McMaster athletes in general?
Although there is no concrete answer, it is no secret that for years now, many sports teams at McMaster have pleaded for donations to keep themselves running. Even the men’s soccer team, which has had a very successful season so far, has a donation website. Additionally, there are numerous teams which require their athletes to pay a fee before representing the school.
With that said, it might therefore be expected that this partnership will result in more financial stability for Marauders teams. Although no financial income has been published by the Marauders regarding this partnership, they have promised unique experiences and promotional offers for the members of the Marauders community.
In a statement made by the director of athletics and recreation, Shawn Burt, mentioned that the new partnership with Pizza Pizza will not only benefit student athletes, but also varsity games attendees through engagement opportunities that the pizza giant has to offer.
This new sponsorship deal can turn out to be a big game changer for the Marauders, but what is the student perspective on Canada’s largest pizza company? To find out the answer to the question, a Reddit poll was created by the Silhouette Sports reporters which would help to gather some perspectives from the students.
According to the poll results, most of the McMaster students wouldn’t mind having Pizza Pizza as a sponsor, as there's an even divide between those who like and dislike the pizza giant.
Although the students have their own opinions on the new sponsorship, there is still much to know about what the true benefit of this new deal is. What the McMaster community can hope for though, is a new financial boost for the varsity teams and possibly a better playing experience for the student athletes.
