The Rocket APT Challenge was inspired by the Rocket Software Rocket.Build event for internal developers. This annual hackathon gives team members a forum to try out wild ideas and push the boundaries of their development skills. The Rocket APT Challenge encourages young developers from outside the organization to explore the Rocket MultiValue application platform in this same spirit.
The mission is to design a program or application built on Rocket’s MultiValue application platform in support of a theme. This year’s theme is Improve your Community. Apart from adherence to the theme, there are no restrictions, and entrants are free to innovate to the limits of their imaginations.
There are three regional contests: Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas. In April 2019, the top three individuals from each region will be awarded a cash prize of:
The nine winners will also be awarded an expenses-paid trip to Massachusetts, USA in June 2019 to participate in Rocket.Build 2019, where they will compete in regional teams to decide the global winner of the Rocket APT Challenge. The winning team will share a grand prize of $24,000 (USD).
The Rocket APT Challenge is open to undergraduate students 18 years of age or older who are currently studying engineering, science, or technology at an accredited college or university in Europe, Asia-Pacific, or the Americas. Registration for this global competition begins in October 2018 and runs for 60 days.
Why Should You Participate?
If your business is built on MultiValue software, you need to think about preparing for the future. Developers with MultiValue skills are rare, and as your senior staff members retire, you may find it difficult to hire replacements. One way to ensure a stream of talent for the future is to introduce students to MultiValue today. By making students aware of the platform, encouraging them to learn it, and offering internships so they can gain real-world experience, you help groom the next generation of MultiValue developers. What's more, in a tight job market where you compete for scarce resources, a student with knowledge of MultiValue is more likely to be interested in your open jobs.
Students who participate in the Challenge may carry your business forward in the future, which makes support for the Rocket APT Challenge a sound investment.
Rocket Software and APT are jointly sponsoring the Rocket APT Challenge. The entire Rocket MultiValue community stands to benefit from the Rocket APT Challenge, and we are pulling together to make it a success.
Rocket is not only a financial sponsor for the Challenge; it will also supply participants with the MultiValue application platform in the cloud, along with other necessary software, sample programs, and more. Rocket will also support students on their quest for the prize, promote the event, provide marketing materials, and manage registration. Finally, Rocket will look after the nine finalists as honored guests while they’re at Rocket.Build.
APT is a financial sponsor, and the developer and provider of the Rocket APT Challenge website used to drive and support participation in the Challenge. Through the website, potential participants will learn more about and register for the Challenge.
Participating regional partners will each contribute $5,000 (USD) towards the Challenge prizes.
Interested students can learn more and sign up in the Student area of this website. Once registered, student participants will find all the materials they need to create a winning application. For inspiration, they can read about past winners and watch a demo of Eddie O’Donnell’s entry, Forage, a restaurant- comparison website that identifies restaurants in a given area according to the percentages of vegan, vegetarian, or dairy-free dishes on their menus.
Once registered, students will also gain access to the Rocket MultiValue application development platform and associated tools, along with an exhaustive library of resources to help them get up to speed quickly.
Finally, once accepted, student participants will have a sandbox development area of their own within the website.
This year’s Rocket APT Challenge is open to participants in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas. With a more global reach, we are recruiting partners to ensure a Challenge that is successful worldwide. We expect partners to create a plan to achieve success, including:
The first step is to select your target institutions. We recommend that you select institutions with active computer science departments. If you have a staff member who is an active alumnus or who has a son or daughter in college, those institutions might be great targets. The most important success factors are an appropriate computer science program and a desire on the part of the institution to work with you.
Here are some suggestions for how to approach a school:
Universities may have internal communication vehicles you can use to help you promote the Challenge. We will provide the Challenge graphic, and templates for social media, email, and a printed flyer. If partners need design assistance or would like support creating additional marketing materials not referenced above, please send your ideas to our Partner Manager, Kathy Larson at klarson@rocketsoftware.com.
Branding
We encourage partners to use the Challenge templates, or request assistance to customize local marketing materials as needed. The following methods are authorized representations of the Rocket APT Challenge branding.
In text, the Challenge is to be referred to as
Rocket APT Challenge
If you are using the supplied artwork, branding should appear as follows:
Rocket APT Challenge, a coding competition + Rocket Software and APT logos
And in situations where you wish to display your own logo, it should be in addition to the above, like this:
During the registration period, there will be a weekly meeting for participating partners so we can share best practices, address unexpected issues, and monitor ongoing activities related to registrations. This collaboration and learning will help us meet the goal of 100 participants worldwide, and help us improve future Challenge initiatives. We will collect data on, and discuss:
| September 2018: | Internship offers confirmed by partners |
|---|---|
| September - October 2018: | University staff contact and student ambassadors engaged |
| October 2018: | Rocket APT Challenge registration opens |
| December 2018 | Competition begins |
| March 2019: | Development window closes |
| April 2019: | Judging and announcement of regional winners |
| June 2019: | Winners travel to Massachusetts, USA for Rocket.Build 2019 |
