Hackathons are 24-36 hour events where participants are encouraged to learn, collaborate, and build technological inventions with leaders, companies, and peers in the tech community. Hackathons have been sweeping the nation in the recent years especially at the collegiate level; however, there is no substantial research or documentation of the actual effects of hackathons especially at the collegiate level. This makes justifying the usage of valuable time and resources to host hackathons difficult for tech companies and academic institutions. This thesis specifically examines the effects of collegiate hackathons through running a collegiate hackathon known as Desert Hacks at Arizona State University (ASU). The participants of Desert Hacks were surveyed at the start and at the end of the event to analyze the effects. The results of the survey implicate that participants have grown in base computer programming skills, inclusion in the tech community, overall confidence, and motivation for the technological field. Through these results, this study can be used to help justify the necessity of collegiate hackathons and events similar.

In today's world, technology plays a large role in everyone's life. However, there is a short supply of professionals to fill the roles in the computing field. When examining closer, it is clear that one group has a smaller representation: women. This can be contributed to many factors early in the women's lives and academic careers. In hopes of increasing the number of women computing professionals, this thesis aimed to understand the problem of a lack of women in technology and studied how hackathons could be a possible solution. The research followed Desert Hacks as it examines the typical participants as well as the hackathons effects on women's morale in technology. Two important questions during the investigation were what kind of women are attending hackathons and how do women feel about the technology industry after a hackathon? The results suggested that hackathon had an overall positive effect on women's motivation in the computing field. Additionally, most research participants believed that everyone has the potential to do well in the field and that gender inclusion is important for the industry. This ideology can foster a healthy environment for women to become more motivated in computing. Through these results, hackathons can be seen as another mean to help motivate women in the field and open up the possibility of future studies of women and hackathons.

Telemedicine is a multipurpose tool that allows medical professionals to use technology as a means to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients remotely. This paper focuses on the challenges that developing telemedicine programs face, specifically discussing target population, user experience, and physician adoption. Various users of telemedicine share their experiences overcoming such challenges with the greater goal of this paper being to facilitate the growth of telemedicine programs.

For many, a long-distance hike on the 2,650+ mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is the adventure of a lifetime. The federally designated National Scenic Trail passes through 48 Wilderness Areas in California, Washington, and Oregon on its way from Mexico to Canada. The trail experience on the PCT has been changing rapidly over the last 20 years due to two main factors: a four-fold increase in hikers attempting the whole trail each season; and hikers’ rapid adoption of digital technology like smartphones, GPS, and satellite messengers. Through a literature review and accompanying hiker survey, this study aimed to determine how these two factors have combined to alter the trail experience. Despite increased traffic on the trail, hikers appear to still be able to find ample solitude and a feeling of escape from society, and they reported being more likely to form lasting friendships as part of a “trail family”. However, increased traffic has altered many of the sensitive natural landscapes along the trail, contributed to the retirement of some iconic “trail angels” and led to increased conflict between subcultures within the community. Digital technology usage, particularly the use of smartphones and GPS-capable mapping apps, seems to be linked to decreased feelings of solitude, self-sufficiency, and escape. However, digital devices have helped democratize long-distance hiking by simplifying the logistics of long-distance hikes. Users of the devices also did not report reduced feelings of freedom or challenge from their hikes. Moreover, device users still felt that they were disconnecting with technology when hiking on the trail. Acknowledging both positive and negative effects of the changing trail experience, hikers can make more informed decisions about how to mitigate the negative impacts and maximize the positive impacts on the aspects of the trail experience they care the most about.

Esports is the fastest growing sub sector within the entertainment industry, predicted to garner over 600 million viewers by 2022. However, there is a big category of esports - mobile esports - that are not yet recognized globally. This thesis project analyzes how mobile esports has risen in the Eastern countries of the world, primarily Southeast Asia, and compares it to the possibility of replication in the Western countries of the world, primarily the United States and Brazil. It examines the specific factors that caused mobile gaming and thus mobile esports to flourish in the East Region of the world. The thesis additionally incorporates current attitudes towards esports and mobile esports in the United States and discusses the viewpoints of consumers in those specific areas. This research uses primary data and literature synthesis to ultimately increase knowledge on how mobile esports has risen in popularity in various Asian countries and whether or not mobile esports can thrive in a different environment such as the United States.<br/><br/>This thesis takes data from the “Newzoo Global Esports Market Report” conducted in 2020 by Newzoo. This report does the following:<br/>- dives deep into the global and regional esports economy<br/>- provides a realistic estimate of the market’s future potential regarding revenue streams, audience numbers, key trends, and franchises<br/>- highlights financial and statistical trends for the esports industry in the future<br/><br/>Overall the thesis finds that mobile esports have succeeded in the Asian market due to an established demographic of esports fans and players, mobile first consumers, and wide technology network in Asia. Data analysis finds that currently many American gamers still find mobile gaming to be “boring” and ultimately that cultural attitude, generational shifts, and the ideal game need to align for mobile esports to succeed in the United States.

Journalism, by its very nature, is limited, often adhering to a repetitive format and narration style. Consequently, the depth of journalistic stories will always hit a barrier. Fiction, on the other hand, provides an elegant solution by exploring the world through a myriad point of views including complete omniscience. This thesis explores the link between journalism and fiction by taking real-world scenarios and exploring them without journalism's limitations. It includes three novellas totaling 25,000 words drawn from true-to-life research papers, news stories and manifestos to paint a realistic picture of a technological reality in the near future, a style of writing one might call futurecasting. The thesis also contains an analysis of the techniques used in contemporary fiction and an analysis of their implementation within the novellas. The goal of the novellas is to let researchers to explore the impact of their work before its mass dissemination in order to shape societal, national and international policy responsibly. Similarly, novellas like this and others similar allow society to discover the beauty of science through fiction. These are some of fiction's greatest roles in science and society.

In the age of social media, the 24-hour news cycle, and an overwhelming pressure to become "successful," there is a marked lack of personal connection within communities and a constant state of stress and overwork. This constant state of stress then builds into anxiety, as there are few public resources for mental reprieve. The World Health Organization reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide, begging the question as to how they can be addressed most effectively worldwide. As design is implicit within any environment that provides for mental wellness, it must be carefully curated to provide not only the physical necessities, but speak for something beyond explanation- a sense of mental refuge and comfort. Using the concept of mindfulness, architecture has the power to force users to truly be present in the experience, activating space to become a mental refuge rather than a passive infrastructure.

This study aims to explore the prevalence of smartphone, smartwatch, and fitness tracker ownership among college students, and compare the popularity of each device in tracking health-related habits such as physical activity, eating, and sleep. In addition, this study aims to analyze the effectiveness of each device for achieving personal health goals in all three categories. Research for this study was conducted using an Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved survey that was distributed electronically to various Greek and student organizations around Arizona State University campuses. In total, 183 responses were considered, with participants ranging from ages 18 to 23. Participants were required to own or possess a smartphone to be eligible to complete the survey. After seven days of data collection, the results were then analyzed using Qualtrics. The results revealed that smartwatch and fitness tracker ownership is not prevalent within the Arizona State University demographic. In addition, after comparing device popularity across each habit-tracking category, it is apparent that the smartphone is the most used device for tracking. Finally, when looking at device effectiveness in relation to achieving health goals, smartwatches consistently scored higher than smartphones. Supplemental research should be conducted to further explore the prevalence and effectiveness of habit tracking. This research should include a larger sample size and a more evenly spread gender demographic.

TradeUp is a Windows Forms Application written in C# that connects users that want to trade textbooks. The application allows users to list textbooks that they would like to trade for other textbooks. Users can then send and receive negotiation requests. If accepted a new negotiation is opened. This means that the two parties will have access to each other’s contact information so that they can complete the trade in person.

TradeUp is primarily developed to cater to K-12 institutions. This means that a school would purchase a future commercial version of TradeUp. Once this is done a local database would be created in the school’s network and hosted on a server. This would allow for students to access the application by downloading it from the school’s website and would create a local network for the program to exclusively function in. This would allow for students in a school to trade textbooks amongst each other.

TradeUp is currently not available for purchase or for official use. The application is fully functional, and a version of the program can be downloaded in its totality from GitHub through the following link:
https://github.com/mgutie36/TradeUp

It is important to note that for the application to function on your laptop you must be utilizing a Windows machine. Furthermore, you must also utilize the create SQL statements found in “Create.txt” file located in the Bin/Debug folder of the solution in order to create a local database on your machine using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio. Once that is completed you must replace the connection string in the solution with the connection string that was just created on your machine.