GSU Student Makes a Living From Hackathon Winnings

Current Georgia State Computer Science student, Gene Chorba, has been dominating the competition at hackathons all over the US. Since 2014, he’s received honors and awards at more than a dozen hackathons and has won first prize in over half of them. We recently caught up with the Panthers’ most talented software and mobile app developer to get the scoop.

Chorba initially learned to code in middle school and has been picking up new languages and skills ever since. As the son of Terence Chorba, Chief of the Field Services Branch at the Center for Disease Control’s TB department, Gene grew up moving a lot and surrounded by people trying to solve social issues. This experience made him extremely scrappy and focused on solving civic problems – the perfect storm for hackathon domination.

We recently became aware of this wiz kid as a member of the KnowFish team, winners of the Atlanta Fishackathon and recent recipients of the people’s choice award for the “Our Ocean” grand prize. While most people attend hackathons for a weekend of fun, Chorba has tuned it into a job, and this Georgia State student has been able to make a living through his victories (cash prizes ranging from $500-1,000 for each tournament).

Here’s a few of his recent accomplishments:

Team Gesture: AT&T Hackathon Atlanta, (Atlanta, GA), Developer/Designer

Emergency Delivery Service: The Weather Channel & Google Maps “Storm the Road: Hackathon for Safety,” (Atlanta, GA), Developer/Designer

Crowd Playsports: Sports Illustrated Data Hackathon, (New York, NY), Developer/Designer

GSA Reporting: U.S. General Services Administration Digital Innovation Hack-a-thon, (Washington, DC), Developer/Designer

As you can see, Gene loves coming up with ideas to help people. He’s also currently working on a seizure tracking watch in his free time. Chorba plans to graduate by the end of next semester and is currently focused on learning more backend development and entering Major League Hacking competitions and corporate hackathons. “They have nice cash prizes,” and he likes their “focus on building things that could evolve into a feasible company,” he explains.

This Georgia State student is very interested in obtaining an internship for the rest of the summer semester as well as the fall semester. “I’m open for anything that allows me the opportunity to thrive and still learn new things,” says Chorba.This coding champ is available now and won’t last long. Follow Gene (and make him a killer offer to stay in ATL) on Twitter @dualpandas.

[Photo Credit: Whitlock]