Students will collaborate in computer programming and learn about technological entrepreneurship at Hack HW, a 36-hour student hackathon Jan. 16-17.

Participants will divide into multiple groups and work on a programming project throughout the event as part of a competition.

Though most hackathon participants generally create apps or websites, students are free to pursue whatever hardware or software ideas they have. Prizes for the competition include an iPad Mini 2, a virtual reality system and a mini 3-D printer.

Shelley Jain ’16 and Justin Rose ’17 created the hackathon to give students of all experience levels the opportunity to explore computer science and its role in technology and entrepreneurship.

“After reading about [hackathons] online and attending one, I realized that Harvard-Westlake needs this,” Jain said. “Most high schools only offer one computer science course, AP Computer Science, but we offer three computer science courses. Hackathons are an opportunity for students to apply the skills they’ve learned in these courses on a project and for inexperienced coders to realize that this might be a field they’re interested and take advantage of HW’s courses.”

The event is open to 50 students and will provide 10 mentors from technology companies and the California Institute of Technology, who will supervise the projects.

Representatives from technology companies such as Apple will host workshops to discuss app and web development and programming.