For the ninth consecutive year, Major League Baseball’s Advanced Media division (MLB.com) and the School of Information Studies (iSchool) have teamed up to challenge Syracuse University students to see if they have what it takes to make it in baseball’s technology big leagues.
MLB.com and the iSchool are co-sponsoring the MLB.com College Challenge, a contest that invites students to develop new ideas that could end up being used on MLB.com, Major League Baseball’s official website, or incorporated into another one of the enterprise’s digital properties.
The competition will put teams of students to the test by challenging them to work on real-world problems in the realm of technology and sports. Teams will submit competing solutions to demonstrate creativity, insight, and talent in a fun, interactive environment, and then pitch their ideas to current MLB.com employees.
“This year, we’ll again have an exciting new topic, and some great prizes for students to win,” said Julie Walas, director of alumni & student engagement at the iSchool. “The 2018 College Challenge is poised to be the best one yet!”
Along with Walas, the contest is being coordinated by iSchool faculty member and CEO of SIDEARM Sports, Jeffrey Rubin, and iSchool alumni and current MLB.com employees Marc Squire ’11 and Ben Romy ’12.
This year’s event will be held beginning in the evening on Thursday, November 8, with dinner at Manley Field House followed by an all-night hackathon in Hinds Hall where student teams work on their ideas.
The next evening, teams will have the opportunity to pitch their creative ideas to a panel of MLB and Syracuse judges in the Carrier Dome.
The winning team will travel to New York City for a dinner with MLB.com employees and an overnight stay. The following day, they will tour the MLB.com office located in NYC’s historic Chelsea Market, followed by lunch and the opportunity to share the winning presentation with other MLB employees. All challenge entrants will enjoy participation prizes from MLB.com.
The competition is open to all matriculated Syracuse University students. Students will participate in self-composed teams which must be composed of 2-4 people, must have at least one full time iSchooler, and must be composed of at least 50% undergraduate students. Registration for the contest will be open until 11:59 PM on Sunday, November 4. Details and online registration.
Questions about the competition can be directed to Julie Walas at jlwalas@syr.edu, or by phone at 315-443-4133.