John Brown University will host the J.B. Hunt Hackathon programming competition on Oct. 11. in the Balzer Technology Center starting at 5 p.m. The event will go through the night and end with final project presentations at 11 a.m. on Oct 12.

“There is a great demand for computer science professionals in Northwest Arkansas,” said Ted Song, associate professor of engineering. “John Brown University is thrilled to partner with J.B. Hunt to provide opportunities to high school and college students in exploring this career field.”

The competition is open to all high school, college and graduate students in the region with any level of programming experience. Past participants have ranged from computer scientists to business majors to graphic designers. Participants may sign up individually or with teams of up to six people, however no team may have more than two graduate students.

At the start of competition, the J.B. Hunt Hackathon will present a programming theme around which participants will create an original collaborative programming project. Once the theme is presented, teams have all night to develop their interactive prototype for review by a panel of J.B. Hunt employees at the end of the event.

Among the prizes, JBU is offering scholarships to each high school student in the top three teams. High school students can win $1,000 for finishing first, $750 for finishing second, and $500 for finishing third. Additionally, internship opportunities at JB Hunt are available for college students.