What is HackVie you may ask? Well, Jerome Ng described it best:
32+ hours over 3 days.
17 in-person students + another 13 students participating over Microsoft Teams.
9 in-person AbbVie mentors + 1 mentor coaching our students virtually.
18 AbbVie guests, including 1 international guest speaker.
17 in-person students + another 13 students participating over Microsoft Teams.
9 in-person AbbVie mentors + 1 mentor coaching our students virtually.
18 AbbVie guests, including 1 international guest speaker.
To say I was intimidated is an understatement. With hardly a year at the AIC under my belt, HackVie was a term I heard, but could never wrap my head around. It sounded a bit too “techy” for a creative writer like me. The world of grammar, metaphors, and writing essays is my comfort zone while computers, coding, and especially augmented reality is…let’s just say, the complete opposite.
Without knowing what to expect, I jumped in headfirst. This year, students were asked to solve a business challenge using augmented reality through a software called MS Guides. I remember being so lost and overwhelmed during our first MS Guides tutorial. I had feelings of, “Do I belong here?” and “This is way out of my comfort zone.” I continued to watch Amol Shah and John Stepney demonstrate, goggles on, fingers in air, answering prompts in the comfort of his own home (or in this case, his laundry room).
Paired with my doubt, I remember being amazed by the advanced technology. “We get to use these goggles? How cool is that!” I remember thinking to myself. I went from somebody who hardly knew the difference between virtual and augmented reality (embarrassing I know) to actually using augmented reality to solve real business challenges.
On day one, our first step was to figure out the best way to collaborate with both remote and in-person team members. The AIC was equipped for this challenge, however, and once my team got into a routine, it was smooth sailing from there (well, maybe there was a technical difficulty or two). I was on team MJ Benn, a random concoction of the first initial of each of our names. The remainder of teams were Inside the Box, Team Ace, Papa Dels, Midwest World, and Real Champaign, and each showed profound levels of innovation, creativity, and collaboration.
Although the days were long, it was structured, which made the days flow by. With keynote speakers from Matt Stimmel, Lars Greiffenberg, Becky Sawle and Paula Gambo, along with fun activities and “Brain Breaks,” every moment during these three days was a learning opportunity. We had plenty of work time as well, and I was impressed how each team sparked innovative ideas and made creative presentations in the matter of 2 days.
For our final day, we presented in front of a panel of judges. The presentations were incredibly engaging, and I was excited to see how my peers used this technology for their assigned business issue. From Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s, to clinical trials and more, it was inspiring to see what each team came up with. I congratulate Inside the Box for 1st place as it was very well deserved along with Real Champaign as runner up. My team Mj Benn won the Blue Sky Award, along with Team Ace winning Most Accessible Design, Papa Dels winning Putting Patients First and finally, Midwest World winning Team of the Future.
Although I may have been overwhelmed at first, believing that I was in over my head, I realized that I should be more confident in my abilities. I became comfortable sharing my ideas, no matter how farfetched they were, and I realized that my eye for creative writing and my presentation skills came in handy on my team. You don’t need to be a programmer to succeed at HackVie. Any person with their unique skillset, interests, and experiences has a place on a team. Presenting in front of the panel of judges, about an issue I grew to be very passionate about, discussing how our innovation could help the company, I truly felt like I was a part of AbbVie’s future.
Thank you to our mentors, judges, and the AIC for making events like HackVie possible! To learn more about HackVie and other signature events, click here. For more information on the AbbVie Innovation Center email [said address].