Meet Hack Western 11’s Co-Directors
Get Ready for… Hack Western 11 🎉!
Hack Western is ready to soar to new heights as we journey into the next decade! Located in London, Ontario, our university-level hackathon has been the destination where the hacker community has come together for the past ten years. Now, Hack Western 11 marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter — where ideas take flight. Join us in creating the best Hack Western to date!
Introducing Hack Western 11’s Co-Directors: Cynthia Li and Dennis Zhang! We’re super excited about this year’s iteration and wanted to give a sneak peek at what it has in store.
Cynthia: Hi everyone! I’m Cynthia, and I am currently in my third year. I am hoping to achieve a dual degree in Computer Science and Business. Although my majors might be somewhat unoriginal, I genuinely love the people I’ve met and have found a passion for hosting events that bring these people together. I would love to continue seeking and building supportive communities — that’s taken me to help host four hackathons (Hack Western 11 will be my 4th) and six weddings! In my 1st year on the team, I helped with all things logistics, and I’m so excited to see everything come together this year as well!
Dennis: Hey everyone! I’m Dennis, a 4th-year student at the Ivey Business School. I started in Management and Organizational Studies, but now I’m chasing the dream of becoming a tech bro with a sequential degree in computer science. In the future, I want to break into sports/tech — it would be super cool to work for an NBA team.
This iteration marks my 3rd year on Hack Western (I’m practically ancient now). Last year, I was the Logistics Lead, which meant I was responsible for all the moving parts of the hackathon. Watching all our wild ideas come to life and seeing everyone have a blast was incredibly rewarding and is a big reason why I’ve been here for so long. Hack Western is hands down the best team I’ve ever been a part of, and I’m honoured to lead it as co-director as we kick off a new decade of Hack Western!
What’s your favourite Hack Western memory?
D: My favourite memory has to be running the whole event itself. Spending the late nights with the organizing team at the venue brought us closer, even though we were all a bit delirious and tired. The shared sense of purpose, knowing we were all in it together to create something special for everyone, is a feeling I’ll never forget!
C: I’m totally not biased about this, but I loved seeing everyone rock our swag! Merch has always been such a massive part of hackathons, and picking out and designing our own 10th-anniversary items was so special. I always light up when I see someone in the wild repping Hack Western!
What’s going to make Hack Western 11 memorable?
C: I am so excited about all the fun activities and decorations we’re planning. I absolutely love the theme this year! Our team has done some fantastic work to ensure everyone experiences a unique side of hackathons that will make Hack Western 11 an event you won’t want to miss. I don’t want to spoil any more of the big plans our team has been tirelessly working on, but I will say that we know how to have fun.
What advice would you give to first-time participants at Hack Western 11?
D: We’re incredibly excited to have you here with us! If you ever need anything, don’t be shy and ask one of our organizers for assistance — we’re here to help you. It’s important to keep an open mind and step out of your comfort zone no matter what your goal is. Hack Western 11 is only 3 days long so you might as well make it count! Start those conversations with new people sitting around you, attend those workshops you think you know nothing about, participate in all the fun activities to have a good time, and eat some good food while you’re at it. Take all your crazy ideas and turn them into reality!
Follow us on our socials (Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin) to stay up to date with what we are doing this year.
We are super excited to see all of you guys at Hack Western 11!
