The student organization Women in Computer Science is hosting its second annual hackathon marathon here at NC State.

The marathon, dubbed DiamondHacks, is free and open to anyone interested in the field of computer science. There are 24 hours of coding and two days of computer programming festivities.

“Although we encourage participants to sleep, they literally can code for 24 hours straight if they want to,” WICS webmaster Dana Christo said.

WICS explains: “a hackathon, by our definition, is an opportunity to come together with like-minded women for collaborative software development in a fun and social environment.”

“Our theme this year is heroism,” WICS ambassador Lauren Brennan said. “What can you do using computer science to bring light to issues and change the world?”

According to Brennan, compared with other universities nationally, NC State’s percentage of women enrolled in the computer science program is on the lower end, with only 13 percent of current students being female. Brennan said that most schools have around 30 percent women enrollment in computer science. With inspiration from UNC-Chapel Hill’s female hackathon, Peal Hacks, DiamondHacks made its debut appearance last year.

“You can create whatever you want,” Brennan said. “You can build an app or a website, whatever you can do with computer science and programming, we want you to do it.”

No experience is necessary to attend the hackathon, and the event is open to anyone, not just NC State students. Last year, DiamondHacks had a small outcome of about 30 participants. This weekend, the marathon expects nearly 200 hackers to show up, with a steep female majority.

“We advertised a lot more and partnered with Major League Hacking, which helped so much,” Christo attributed a few specific factors to the outstanding projected turnout of this year’s hackathon. “I completely revamped the DiamondHacks website and have been constantly updating our social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram over the last few weeks.”

According to Brennan, the new promotion efforts were successful, since students from California, Georgia, Pennsylvania and even the University of India signed up to participate.

The event will take place this Saturday and Sunday on Centennial Campus in Engineering Building II.

Speakers from many companies like Google, Red Hat, IBM and Cisco will be in attendance to help mentor students, according to Brennan.

To register, go to www.ncsudiamondhacks.com and save a spot. Participants have free meals, movies, professional speakers, informational workshops and even games and yoga available to them during the 48-hour event.

Hackers and teams will present their final projects at the conclusion of the marathon, and prizes such as drones and company gifts will be awarded for a wide range of categories.

What can you do using computer science to bring light to issues and change the world?”