IRVING, Texas (Oct. 18, 2024) — Over the next few weeks, a group of students from both Constantin College and the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business will be preparing to participate in a hackathon. The event, called the first artificial intelligence (AI) hackathon in Dallas/Fort Worth, will be held on Nov. 18 in McKinney.

The hackathon is sponsored by Intelligage, a McKinney startup. Along with McKinney Economic Development Corporation and the venture capital firm Plug and Play, the company aims to make the Dallas/Fort Worth area the AI epicenter of Texas.

“The next generation of AI practitioners is in the universities, and we are excited to host forward-thinking schools such as the University of Dallas and pave the way to mutual success,” Intelligage co-founder and CEO Bryan Plaster said.

Faculty and students of other colleges, including Collin College, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas, will be attending and competing.

Renita Murimi, PhD, associate professor of cybersecurity, has been organizing the UDallas teams.

“As of now, I see three teams of UDallas students: two teams of undergraduate students in the computer science program and one team of master’s students in the cybersecurity program,” Murimi says. “The students have some interesting ideas about what their AI agents would do, and they are working on refining their ideas. They are learning how to code AI agents for specific applications.”

Prior to the event, each team will submit a three-minute video of their AI agent in action. The top teams will be featured and announced at the November event.

This competition comes after the College of Business announced its new Master of Science degree in data science and artificial intelligence (DSAI). Applications for the DSAI program are open, and classes will begin in the fall of 2025.

About the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business

The Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business at the University of Dallas has been a pioneer of graduate business education for more than 50 years. Located in Irving, Texas, the college was the first in Texas to offer an AACSB-accredited Doctor of Business Administration. Today, the college offers flexible Master of Business Administration, Master of Science, and professional education programs ideal for early to mid-career professionals seeking to advance their careers under the guidance of faculty who are both scholars and accomplished business leaders. SB Hall, which opened in January 2016, houses the college, providing students with state-of-the-art technology and practical tools to prepare them for their future career. For more information, visit udallas.edu/cob.

About the University of Dallas

The University of Dallas strives to be the premier Catholic liberal arts university in the country, known for its rigorous undergraduate Core Curriculum and robust graduate and professional programs in business, ministry, education and the humanities. According to national rankings, the University of Dallas has one of America’s most challenging, comprehensive undergraduate interdisciplinary programs, offered at an excellent value to some of the happiest students in the country. With campuses in Texas and Italy, UDallas stands apart as a thriving community of learners committed to an education that forms students intellectually, socially and spiritually for a life well-lived. For more information, visit udallas.edu.