Transport to the year 2300 after the apocalypse and most of humanity has been destroyed, and it’s up to someone to find a way to save the world.
Tony Dieppa, 26, and David Flores, 28, both UF first-year entrepreneurship graduate students, came up with the idea to bring people together from different disciplines for 54 hours to create an app that would “save the world.”
This weekend launches their first competition, UF War of the Worlds.
The event is only for graphic design and computer science students.
Flores said he hopes the event will aid in “integrating people of different backgrounds, bouncing ideas off of each other and making sure they are creating togetherness which doesn’t always exist [at the university].”
For the competition, people will create a mobile app, called “the replicator,” which will run on someone’s phone, creating blueprints that can help survivors of the apocalypse find food, water and fight the zombie horde that may come their way, Dieppa said.
He said at the end of the 54 hours, competitors should have a complete app, not only making it functional, but also designing something that is beautiful to look at.
Competitor Andrew Chen, a 19-year-old digital arts and science freshman, said the most important part of this competition is the team.
“The biggest value is to work with other people you wouldn’t have, and it’s just good practice,” he said.
Admission is $10. It is free for people who find the “spy,” who will be walking around campus with a Mexican sombrero and a lightsaber. People can follow @TealOcean on Twitter to get updates on where he will be.
Competitors are able to register until the day of the event. As of last week, 65 people had already signed up. Teams will be finalized once all participants are at the event.
“People should come out of this event wanting to build new things,” Dieppa said.
More information can be found at ufwaroftheworlds.eventbrite.com.
