Concordians win the Great Canadian Appathon
Four first-year students from Concordia’s Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering took first place at a national competition that challenged college and university students to race against the clock and develop a mobile game app in 48 hours.
The students, Alexander Coco, Dragos Dinulescu, Thomas Rahn and David Siekut, share a cash prize of $25,000 and interviews with a high-profile gaming company after winning first place in the second annual Great Canadian Appathon.
The four came to Concordia after completing the computer science program at Dawson College, which helped prepare them for the challenge of competing against more than 400 students from across Canada.
Coding a mobile app in such a limited time was “definitely crazier than anyone can imagine,” recalls team spokesperson Alexander Coco. “We took all the precautions: we brought snacks, pillows, our own keyboards and mice … We even brought our own coffee machine!”
Between working and power napping, the team eventually came up with their winning entry: a Windows Phone 7 racing game called Trace Racer. “We didn't want to make a game that would be like 80 per cent of the sports games out there already,” explains Coco. Instead, they designed a game in which the player traces the path of a motocross bike around a track using a finger on the device’s touch screen.
The game may one day appear on mobile devices across Canada: part of the prize is the chance to work with XMG Studio Inc., a mobile game development company and a sponsor of the appathon. XMG Studio professionals will help the Concordians fine-tune the game and publish it through an appropriate app store.
What’s even more exciting — the four team members will soon be invited for job interviews at the XMG Studio offices in Toronto.
However, it’s perhaps the cheque that is the highlight of the prize package. “Being first-year university students, we're definitely going to use our winnings to pay for tuition,” says Coco.
Related links:
• Concordia's Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering
• Great Canadian Appathon
• Trace Racer video demo