 First of its kind, web, gaming and application design competition was held in Bemidji this past weekend. As Mal Meyer reports, the teams were made up of novices and experts alike, using their talents to create a real world solution. The True North Hackfest put on by the Blandin Foundation and Northwest Minnesota Foundation kicked off on Friday evening with the Youth Game Design Challenge. Students from grades 6 through 12 got a crash course in game design led by BSU assistant professor Drew Graham. They learned how to create 3D objects and how to import different objects from 3D Max into Unity in order to create a game. On Saturday, the real Hackfest began, their mission to design a solution to be used in their communities. The girls of Lankt within the Kitty Anderson Youth Science Center in the Science Museum of Minnesota were creating a two-part system. One group made a site for others to know their constitutional rights. We also made little quizlets throughout like to like to test your knowledge on it and then like there's like interactive pictures. And the other group made a solution to share their stories of their rights being suppressed. They created the videos and music as well as the websites to share people's story and then also creating the spot for people to submit the story. Students from Kellier School created a game about invasive species. They're going to be like swimming in a lake, grabbing these water fleas and throwing them out of the lake. The youth group is going to be picking up zebra mussels and putting them in baskets the right way for points. While some had used an online website creator, others made theirs by hand. I watched Matt type away feverishly all day and it's like, you know, it's something that I'm ignorant of. So it was a sight to behold. After hours of working feverishly, they were ready to present to the judges. We do have some parameters going to look at in terms of creativity and the problem and how applicable their solution is to solving a problem and how useful it is. And there's a lot of key components, but it's for, you know, really real solutions and real great applications of technology. In Bemidji, I'm Mal Meyer, Lakeland News. At the end of the competition Bemidji residents Dan Moe and Michael Waldorf along with the Fargo resident Eric McGriff walked away with the $1,000 grand prize for their solution eco-savvy. So congratulations to them. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.