By: J.D. Ross
(315) 443-3094
The Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) and MLB.com have again teamed up to challenge iSchool students to see if they have what it takes to make it in the big leagues. For the fourth year, they are co-sponsoring the MLB.com College Challenge, a contest that invites iSchool students to develop new ideas that could end up on MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball.
The competition will put teams of students to the test by asking them to attack real-world problems in the world of technology and sports. Teams will submit competing solutions to demonstrate their creativity, insight and talent in a fun, interactive environment.
“We are so excited to be partnering again with our alumni at MLB.com to offer this unique opportunity to our students,” said Julie Walas Huynh, director of undergraduate recruitment at the iSchool. “Our students are tech savvy users of interactive sites like MLB.com, so we think they’ll come up with some insightful and innovative proposals for MLB.com to consider implementing.”
Syracuse iSchool alumni and MLB.com employees Josh Frost ’08, Marc Squire ’11, and Ben Romy ’12 , along with fellow Syracuse University graduate, Mike Hoffman ‘93, once again will be leading the initiative working closely with Walas Huynh and iSchool Professor, and CEO of SIDEARM Sports, Jeffrey Rubin.
“An initiative like this offers students unique opportunities to put their iSchool experiences to immediate use in an educational, challenging and team-oriented environment. We eagerly await the many original, thought-provoking concepts this year’s iSchool students are sure to deliver,” said Frost.
Team-based registration for the contest, which is open to all Syracuse students, will officially begin on Monday October 7, 2013. All iSchool students are encouraged to register and form teams, consisting of two to five members. All rosters must have at least one iSchool student and all teams must register online at http://mlbam.ischool.syr.edu by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 15th.
The on-campus challenge will use a two-day, hack-a-thon style, beginning with dinner at the November 21st, where the challenge will officially be launched. The student teams will work on their pitches and proposals through the night and present in an open forum on Friday, November 22nd at the Chief’s Stadium in Syracuse.
The winning team will head to NYC to MLB.com headquarters for a behind-the-scenes facilities tour and lunch with MLB.com employees. All entrants will enjoy participation prizes from MLB.com.
For more information, visit http://mlbam.ischool.syr.edu or e-mail Julie Walas Huynh at jlwalas@syr.edu.