New Ideas, New Voices: Cummins Digital Organization Holds First “Hackathon”
With names such as "Team Vulcans" and "Team Alter Ego," software engineers at Cummins joined together to work on ideas that matched their interests, technical skills and passions.
A "hackathon" is a software engineering event that aims to generate new ideas and solutions in a short period of time. Over several days, software engineers in the Cummins Digital Organization did just that with a set of topics encompassing technology innovation, customer orientation, cost savings, software productivity, and employee health and work ergonomics.
"The idea of the hackathon really emerged because of our commitment to teamwork and collaboration, and our love for diversity, inclusion and innovation," said Megha Tayal, Principal Scrum Master for Cummins Inc., who initially led the program.
"There was a lot of enthusiasm for the event, and we encouraged everyone from our Digital Software Engineering and Product Management teams to submit ideas."
With names such as "Team Vulcans" and "Team Alter Ego," software engineers joined together to work on ideas that matched their interests, technical skills, and passions. After three long days and nights, each team presented their innovations to a judging panel of the software engineering leaders within the Digital Organization. Every unique solution stemming from the hackathon represents an improvement for customers, Cummins-or both.
"As our products continue to evolve, our software engineers are often thinking ahead to visualize more and more ambitious digital applications, capabilities or user experience enhancements-but we often don't have enough time to explore all these ideas," added Jean-Marc Mensah, Director of Software Engineering for Cummins Digital Organization. "With events like our Hackathon, we encourage everyone to come together and think outside the box with a goal to produce actionable solution sets that deliver real value."
Feedback from participants has been so positive that the group has decided to make a hackathon a new Digital Organization tradition at the beginning of every quarter.
Think you have what it takes to succeed in one of our Hackathons? Learn more about a career in Cummins' Digital Organization.
Catherine Morgenstern
Catherine Morgenstern is a Brand Journalist for Cummins, covering topics such as alternative propulsion, digitalization, manufacturing innovation, autonomy, sustainability, and workplace trends. She has more than 20 years of experience in corporate communications, holding leadership positions most recently within the Industrial Capital Goods sector.
Catherine began her career as a marketing writer for a biotechnology company, where she learned to take complicated and highly technical information and make it accessible to everyone. She believes the concept of "storytelling" is more than a trendy buzzword and loves to find ways for her readers to make personal connections to her subjects. Catherine has a passion for technology and innovation and how its intersection can make an impact in all our lives.
Catherine recently moved back to her hometown in the Hudson Valley, New York after a several decades in Los Angeles and Chicago. She is a graduate of UCLA and enjoys gardening and spending time with her husband and three children.