AUSTIN, TEXAS – February 2, 2024 – Dover Fueling Solutions® (DFS), a part of Dover Corporation and a leading global provider of advanced customer-focused technologies, services and solutions in the fuel and convenience retail industries, is collaborating with McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin (“Texas McCombs”) to host its fourth annual hackathon. The event will take place at its corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas, from Feb. 2-4, 2024.
The hackathon is designed to empower Texas McCombs undergraduate and postgraduate students by fostering critical thinking and practical application of their education in real-world scenarios. Additionally, it introduces students to opportunities in convenience and fuel retail careers within their local community. The students will be grouped into teams and will compete against each other to develop solutions that enhance consumer experience or operational efficiency, unlocking additional revenue streams for DFS, its customers and the wider industry.
DFS Vice President and General Manager of Solutions, Hob Hairston, stated, “Dover Fueling Solutions® is excited to continue our partnership with the McCombs School and The University of Texas at Austin. The hackathon has become such an impactful program for both students and the future of our workforce, with our on-campus connections helping us reach students who may not otherwise be exposed to such a challenge. Teams from the previous three hackathons have presented remarkable solutions that have significantly contributed to the industry’s accelerated advancements. I’m sure this year will be no different.”
Participants will have access to a range of DFS’ cutting-edge fueling technologies, such as DFS’s next-generation user experience platform, IoT, cloud services, machine learning and mobile technologies. Upon completion, students will then be judged in the categories of consumer experience, technical difficulty, innovation and execution.
“The DFS Hackathon is a great opportunity for our students to apply the skills they are learning in the classroom towards a more realistic situation. Not only will they get to push their technical and business skills by learning and implementing with new platforms, but they will also get to work with DFS professionals to innovate and work effectively as a team. Presenting their work to DFS leadership and the other students will challenge their communication skills as well. We appreciate the opportunity that DFS, a known innovator in the fuel and convenience retail industry, is providing to our students and it demonstrates DFS’ commitment to supporting higher education," said Caryn Conley, Ph.D., program director of the Texas McCombs Master of Science in Information Technology and Management Program.
This will be DFS’s fourth hackathon, which now includes undergraduates from Texas McCombs and sponsorships from industry leaders like Mansfield Oil and Happiest Minds. In the future, DFS will support similar events with multiple universities across various regions around the globe. In partnering with world-class universities, such as The University of Texas at Austin, DFS hopes to develop synergies with academia to drive new innovations and inspire the next generation of industry leaders. DFS is a member of the Advisory Council for the Master of Science in Information Technology and Management (MSITM) program, which is a STEM program at Texas McCombs.
For more information about DFS products and solutions, visit www.doverfuelingsolutions.com.
For more information about the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, visit www.mccombs.utexas.edu.