Having never been to a Hack Day I was timidly unsure of what to expect. But my bashfulness was overridden by the exciting prospect of 24+ hours of unadulterated creativity and collaboration. Even more electrifying was the venue, the Adler Planetarium, a site I knew well from my childhood dreams of becoming a scientist. The Hack Day staff immediately greeted me upon arrival, and did an amazing job of setting an atmosphere of acceptance and possibility, which in retrospect was a huge benefit to the event. For most attendees, this was their first Hack Day.

After a number of presentations (most about new uses of Big Data in Chicago, which deserves a separate blog post in it’s own right) we got started. I teamed up with a group headed by Ken, a scientist and engineer who works with the Planetarium full time. His idea was twofold: To create a new UX interface for a weather balloon flight-path estimation software, and a kite powered recovery system for weather balloon instruments that would avoid obstacles and difficult terrain.

Our core team consisted of 5 people, with 3 or so coming in and out to work on other projects. We picked a spot in a classroom, and got to work. One team started on the software and Arduino controllers, another on the instrument case and kite steering system (I was on that one), and the final team designed the UX. People came ready to work, and I was lucky to be a part of such an intelligent and persistent team of people! By 6 PM we settled on our final designs and began building.

Walking around during our breaks, the sense of community was amazing. Yes, it was a competition, but the Hackers were more interested in helping each other complete their lofty goals. During meals people would walk around and chat with other teams, seeing how things were going, offering suggestions, and drawing out ideas.

The hours flew by, and by 4 AM we had 2 versions of software with working servos, and began testing the kite. About 5 AM I finally went to sleep, curled up next to an exhibit in my sleeping bag. It was an interesting combination of fun and strange sleeping in a museum, but by that point I was almost too exhausted to feel anything. Some of our team stayed up the entire night to keep working, and we finished our prototype for its final test at 1:30 PM.

Seeing all the projects put together absolutely astounded me. Some teams completely re-invented the wheel to complete their Hacks, and did it so gracefully you could hardly believe they had been awake for 27 hours. Finished projects included a new programming language designed for children, a (almost) wearable heart rate monitor, a Twitter that told you how safe your bike location is, a cloud chamber for detecting gamma rays, a galaxy-themed sing-along to David Bowie on the planetarium screen…. and others.

Our final presentation highlighted our hard work: The software took inputs from the altimeter, GPS and pitchmeter to shift weights in the instrument container, and over time alter the course of it’s decent by air ram kite (think skydiving parachute), and the UX would be implemented into the current system for better flight predictions. Our final beachfront test proved the thing could fly, but the wind was too unstable to detect the minor course changes that would take place in a real-time decent scenario (video at the bottom of this post). Ken is planning to use it on the next flight in June, and I had a very real sense of accomplishment in creating a project that may actually be used by the Planetarium. And the fun part? We won the overall best Hack of SHDCHI 2012!

I want to put out a hardy congratulations to everyone who participated this year, and if you have not had the chance to participate in a Hack Day, you must make time for it. I always will remember that 27 hours in May being surrounded by intelligence, creativity, and boundless perseverance.

Responsibilities

• Think, design and then build (frequently used brain a must)
• Quickly learn new technologies (languages, operating systems, tools) and be productive with them
• Understand a customer’s requirements and big picture view of the system to be developed
• Develop quality software in multiple programming languages
• Quickly identify and track down system bugs

Skills (must have)

• Objective C & iOS development AND/OR Java & Android development
• GUI layout (we have UI designers but you need to be able to build it)
• Network connectivity (HTTP, raw sockets or otherwise) – The apps we build don’t just live on the device but reach out to other systems and hardware.

Other Software Skills (must have at least 1)

• Java (Java web stack OR Java Swing on the client side)
• PHP or C++
• MySQL, SQLServer or other SQL database

Systems Skills (great to have)

• Linux/Unix/Mac OS X/Windows – install, configure & make the server dance
• Troubleshoot network issues affecting software systems
• Scale a system from one server to hundreds
• Ethical hacking certification

If you’d like to be a part of our team, please send your resume, answers to the questions below, and links to any mobile applications you have developed to careers@lextech.com.

1. Why are you a good fit for this position?
2. Our company culture is central to the success of every project. Explain how you demonstrate the Qualities Every Lextech Employee Needs. View these qualities on the Career page of our website. (http://lextech.com/careers)
3. Please list your salary requirement & history
4. About 30% of our contracts for projects require US citizenship. Will you be able to work on these projects?
5. Tell us about the highlights of your iPhone/Android mobile app development experience.

We can’t wait to meet you!

Lextech and Sonic Automotive are pleased to announce the release of Sonic Auto Search, an iPhone app that guides consumers through an easy, yet comprehensive, search process to connect users to the vehicle and dealer that best fit their needs.

“Our customers don’t want to be tied to their desks when they are researching vehicle information or looking for a dealership” said Heath Byrd, VP and CIO of Sonic Automotive. “Sonic Auto Search lets them shop our inventory and find our dealerships directly on their iPhone. Anytime. Anywhere. The app is easy to use and gets the user the right information at the right time.”

The Sonic Auto Search App gives users the ability to:

•  Search Sonic’s new, used, and certified car inventory by make, model, type, body style, year and payment
•  Refine searches to vehicles geographically local to the customer
•  Compare features of up to 5 vehicles
•  Calculate estimated monthly payment based on price range, trade and APR
•  Call, email and get directions to a dealership with one tap
•  Locate a vehicle across Sonic Automotive’s 100+ dealerships

Sonic Auto Search is the first of many mobile applications to be released this year as part of Sonic’s Mobile Business Unit (MBU) engagement with Lextech Global Services.

Sonic Auto Search is available for iOS devices now and will soon be released for Android.

To download the app for iOS, visit http://app.sonicautosearch.com