Northwestern’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers chapter hosted BadHacks on Saturday — its first since 2019 — giving students nine hours to bring their worst ideas to life with a Valentine’s Day-themed twist.

While the proximity of the event to Feb. 14 contributed to the theme topic, IEEE Technical Director and Weinberg junior Kelly Mei said the event addresses a need for further connection within the NU community.

“I recounted that the marriage pact started in 2020,” Mei said. “So there was a need after the pandemic for a lot of students to connect with others, and given the success of the marriage pact, we wanted to launch something with our own little technical twist on it.”

Mei said IEEE is a space where those interested in technology can hone their skills and find a supportive community.

Co-president and McCormick junior Sengdao Inthavong said he wanted the event to reflect IEEE activities before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — which the current IEEE leadership did not get to experience.

“This really is an organization that’s not only for fun, but also for collaborative building,” Inthavong said. “BadHacks is one of those events where you work on a project but also have a fun and casual time.”

McCormick junior Julian Baldwin said the hackathon offered students a chance to test their skills extracurricularly, since they have more flexibility outside a classroom environment.

He added that hackathons give him the chance to view others’ ideas and methods.

“It was fun, seeing all the collective energy that people put in and the different takes people had on the prompts of (an) intentionally bad Valentine’s Day,” Baldwin said. 

As part of BadHacks, IEEE also hosted a mini contest to test which participant could type paragraphs the fastest while blindfolded. McCormick sophomore Steve Ewald won the contest.

Near the end of Saturday’s event, the different groups pitched their projects, received student  feedback and voted on the winners.

Baldwin, McCormick and Bienen junior Andrew Pulver and McCormick junior Ryan Newkirk worked on an unconventional dating app for BadHacks. Pulver said the trio tried to create an app that would increasingly reveal more personally identifiable information as couples decide to take their relationship to the next level.

Pulver said the app aimed to incorporate both risk and reward. There is always the risk the person you are talking to will use that information against you, he said.

“We liked it because it’s both completely absurd, and it’s easy to pitch something that’s funny and just make it,” Baldwin said.

The trio’s project won an award for “Best Overall.”

Weinberg sophomore Ella Cutler and Ewald’s web project looked to match people based on their bad habits, such as snoring or procrastination.

Other groups worked on other versions of dating apps and websites to provide relationship advice. One group created a customizable chatbot to mimic a real-life partner over text.

Mei said exploring ideas that may seem bad could create new, inventive solutions.

“A lot of times we make projects because we think it’s going to serve a greater good,” Mei said. “Sometimes you don’t experiment often enough with what might be wrong. I think it’s good to have an open mind to tackle those ideas that may seem out of the ordinary, and you might find something that’s really extraordinary.”

Clarification: This story has been updated to better reflect the nature of the award granted to multiple event attendees.

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Twitter: @ashley_yw_lee 

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