For the seventh consecutive year, Major League Baseball’s Advanced Media division (MLB.com) and the School of Information Studies (iSchool) have teamed up to challenge iSchool and all Syracuse University students to see if they have what it takes to make it in baseball’s technology big leagues.
MLB.com and the iSchool are co-sponsoring the MLB.com College Challenge, a contest that invites students to develop new ideas that could end up on MLB.com, Major League Baseball’s official website.
The competition will put teams of students to the test by challenging them to work on real-world problems in the realm of technology and sports. Teams will submit competing solutions to demonstrate creativity, insight and talent in a fun, interactive environment and then pitch their ideas to current MLB.com employees who are also Syracuse alumni.
“This year, we’ll again have an exciting new topic, and some great prizes for students to win,” says Julie Walas Huynh, director of academic advising and student engagement at the iSchool. “The 2016 College Challenge is poised to be the best one yet!”
Along with Huynh, the contest is being coordinated by iSchool faculty member and CEO of SIDEARM Sports Jeffrey Rubin, and iSchool alumni and current MLB.com employees Josh Frost ’08, Marc Squire ’11, Ben Romy ’12, Andrew Pregler ’15, James McRoberts ’15, and Sammy Pardes ’16, along with fellow Syracuse University graduate Mike Hoffman ’93.
This year’s event will be held beginning in the evening on Thursday, Nov. 10, with dinner at the Carrier Dome’s Club 44 followed by an all-night hackathon in Hinds Hall, where student teams will work on their ideas.
The next evening, teams will have the opportunity to pitch their creative ideas to a panel of MLB and Syracuse judges.
iSchool Professor Jeff Rubin works with one of the MLB Challenge students teams during the 2015 contest.
The winning team will travel to New York City for a dinner with MLB.com employees and an overnight stay. The following day, they will tour the MLB.com office located in NYC’s historic Chelsea Market, followed by lunch and the opportunity to share the winning presentation with other MLB employees. All challenge entrants will enjoy participation prizes from MLB.com.
Team-based registration for the contest officially opened on Monday, Oct. 3, and will be open until noon on Friday, Nov. 4.
All students are encouraged to register and form teams, consisting of two to four members. The contest is open to all Syracuse University students, and all rosters must have at least one iSchool student.
An information session about the challenge has been scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 3 p.m. in the ICE Box (2nd floor, Hinds Hall).
