Memories from 2022 Tech Challenge

1871’s 13th Annual Tech Challenge, in partnership with Statefarm, brings the nations top student coders to Chicago to compete in an immersive weekend competition. 

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From 9.01.22-9.23.22, global tech innovation hub 1871, hosted the 13th Tech Challenge coding competition in their hometown of Chicago, IL in partnership with Statefarm.

Over 150 students from the nation competed on our qualifying assessment in hackerrank, which assessed their ability to code in the form of accuracy, ability to solve problems speed, and more – in any coding laguage available on the hackerrank platform. 

20 students were from 10 universities, were thereafter invited to Chicago with all-expenses paid for, to more forward in the competition. The names of these students are confidential, as they are accessible only to those with talent benefits in our community, but the schools they attended are as follows: Georgia Institute of Technology; Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; Harvard University; Purdue; UCSD; UIUC; University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and UW-Madison. 

Top place was awarded to 2-time champion Maxwell Zhang of Georgia Institute of Technology, scoring 100% and finished the final challenge in 17 minutes. The top 5 winners all had a score of 100, which meant top times became the main factor of their excellence. 

Tech Challenge supports two mutual goals for 1871’s – inspire young talent to support this very industry and supply high growth companies looking for the best developers new to the gig market. The competition includes elements beyond the hard skills, like exploring city, networking with other amazingly talented coders, touring 1871’s headquarters, and getting the chance to think-forward about their careers.

1871 is excited for 2023, where they’ll continue to support new talent with this university/student focused event under this vertical. 

Interested in partnering on this or another talent category? Let us know.

The competition experience

2022 Tech Challenge winner, Maxwell Zhang

Maxwell Zhang, winner of 2022 Tech Challenge, came to 1871 from Georgia Institute of Technology.

The coders

Here are some of the coders of the experience 

Our why and how

When thinking about building this experience and offering, our CXO Stephanie Miller said:

“Tech Challenge is a fantastic event for students who are rockstars in coding to compete on a national stage against top tier universities for prizes and career fast-track. It’s part of our talent pipeline, where access to these students resumes are limited to our growth-stage and corporate sponsors, looking to meet the best of talent in one room. We are committed to making 1871 a space for tech excellence even at the university level.”

View the whole playlist from the 2022 Tech Challenge! 

Learn more about Tech Challenge, donate to our mission, or browse our story to further engage.