CSU East Bay Hack Day: A University hackathon to combat malaria and zika with drones

This paper introduces the CSU East Bay Hack Day event — a hackathon with a theme of drones and disease. This was a 1-day event that introduced California State University (CSU) East Bay students of all skill levels to the problem of combatting mosquito borne illness with land-based and flying drones. Questionnaires were conducted prior to the event, and after it ended, in order to gauge its effectiveness as a teaching tool. This study found that students had an overall increase in interest in science and engineering after participating in the event. It also found that students felt their knowledge increased significantly by participating in East Bay Hack Day. Finally, of all the students surveyed, all but one student stated that they would participate again in a hackathon if given the chance.