Skip to content

SDLC Partners Hackathon Kicks off This Weekend

Registration has capped for SDLC Partners’ second annual Hackathon event, slated for September 21-22 at their Solution Center in One PPG Plaza, downtown Pittsburgh. The event will include over 80 participants, including undergraduate and graduate students from University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, and Carnegie Mellon University. The panel of guest judges includes noteworthy professionals and entrepreneurs from the region, including:
  • Sumit Shrestha, Customer Success Manager, UiPath
  • Ben Northrop, Owner, Highline Solutions
  • Ryan Green, CEO and Co-founder, Gridwise
  • Aaron Watson, CEO, Piper Creative and Executive Producer, Going Deep Summit
  • Hannah Phillips, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Piper Creative
“We are thrilled that the Hackathon has brought together such a diverse mix of judges. From seasoned entrepreneurs, to a leader from the highest ranked robotic process automation (RPA) software company, to marketing and creative strategists, an architect, and previous naval officer/platform strategist, we have an impressive group of professionals with so much wisdom and experience to draw on,” says Chris Simchick, Co-Founder and CEO, SDLC Partners and CyLumena. Scott Barnyak, Co-Founder and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, adds, “I couldn’t agree more. The 2019 Hackathon event has it all – friendly competition, access to advanced technologies, food, fun – and a notable list of talented judges.” Competitors will form teams and collaborate over one and a half days to create technology solutions for some of the area’s toughest challenges, competing for prizes like a $2,000 first-place team prize.
Sumit Shrestha – Hackathon Judge Customer Success Manager Sumit is a customer success manager at UiPath. He partners with technology executives to help businesses achieve their automation goals. He brings a decade of experience of building software and technology services from the ground up for large enterprises. He received his MBA with a major in innovation and entrepreneurship management from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School. His automation interest spans leveraging AI and machine learning to augment digital robots with human-like cognitive capabilities to solve simple to complex business problems.
Ben Northop Owner, Highline Solutions Ben Northrop has over 20 years’ experience building software systems for companies of all sizes, from basement start-ups to global corporations. He recently started his own independent consulting company, Highline Solutions. Highline Solutions focuses on helping organizations with architecture, devops, and full-stack development. His essays, podcasts, and presentations can be found on his web site at bennorthrop.com.
Ryan Green Co-founder, CEO, Gridwise Ryan Green started his first company while attending the Naval Academy, providing online financial education & coaching services in the realm of Foreign Exchange Trading. He grew the team to 7 members and partnered with one of the largest FX currency brokerages in the US. After serving as an active-duty Naval Officer, he transitioned into working on an FX trading desk at PNC, where he worked with clients to execute trades of up to $12M. He later left PNC to start Gridwise. As the CEO of Gridwise, Ryan plays a pivotal role as the visionary for the company focusing his efforts on platform strategy & execution, customer acquisition strategy & execution, business development, sales, fundraising, and hiring.
Aaron Watson CEO, Piper Creative Aaron Watson is the CEO of Piper Creative, a marketing agency that makes podcasts and vlogs for companies ranging from Fortune 500-size to solopreneur. Aaron’s podcast, Going Deep, has been downloaded 100,000s of times in more than 120 countries. Aaron is also the executive producer of the Going Deep Summit, an annual conference in Pittsburgh built to Expand your Mind, Fill your Heart, and Grow your Tribe.

Hannah Phillips Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer at Piper Creative

Hannah Philips is a visual media artist that produces genre-defining work across digital video, photography, graphic design, and fine art. From an early age, she developed a love for art and creating, and has grown those passions into hard skills that build businesses. She started her first media company in 10th grade and was dedicated to growing it part-time throughout high school. At Piper Creative, she guides and mentors the next generation of creatives while leveraging her skills as well as theirs to transform brands and drive business outcomes.