Campus News

Hack 2016 Tech Cares winners select local nonprofits for donations

The Community Foundation Santa Cruz County has announced the local nonprofits that received donations from winners of Hack UCSC 2016 Tech Cares, which took place on campus in January with more than 550 participants.

March 15, 2016

By Public Affairs

The Community Foundation Santa Cruz County has announced the local nonprofits that received donations from winners of Hack UCSC 2016 Tech Cares, which took place on campus in January with more than 550 participants.

First-, second-, and third-place teams not only received prize money but also won the opportunity to award donations to Santa Cruz County nonprofits of their choice, thanks to sponsorship by Community Foundation Santa Cruz County.

First-place team Gotcho Back chose:

• YWCA Watsonville–$1,000
• Warming Center–$1,000

Gotcho Back is a mobile application timer which can be set to send an alert to an emergency contact if the user doesn’t reach a destination during a programmed period. The user can shake the phone at any time after the timer is set to send an alert before the time period expires. Gotcho Back team members are: Tiffany Luong, Richard Pham, and Ryan Shee, all UC Santa Cruz undergraduates.

Second-place team FBSecure chose:

• Electronic Freedom Foundation–$1,000

FB Secure encrypts Facebook messages in the send process and unencrypts for the message recipient, keeping them secure in the transfer process. The FBSecure team members are: Ray Chen, Cole Faust, and Peter Herniman, all UC Santa Cruz undergraduates.

Third-place team OnWatch chose:

• Digital Nest–$1,000

OnWatch is a Pebble Watch app that sends distress signals to loved ones with the Pebble Watch wearer’s GPS coordinates. OnWatch team members are: Juan Cardozo, Jerry Ku, Anthony Pan, Garrett Stoll, and Weibin Zhong, all UCSC undergraduates.