Spring has sprung (but why is it so cold) 🌸
A week into spring, we hope your semester is blossoming!
Hey Sakura Sparkies <3
Is it really spring if you still see Canada Goose coats on campus? Anyways, happy spring sparkies! Whether you’re finishing up midterms or gearing up for Spring Fling, it’s a great time to reflect, appreciate your growth, and strive towards new goals!
For this edition, we’ll spotlight some Spark Blue projects, delve into the world of NFTs, and as always, help you find an internship for your blooming career.
💙 Penn Spark
Spark Updates ⚡️
What have we been up to this semester?
Congrats (Bootcamp) Grads! 🎓
Our Spark Blue designers and developers have completed their 6 weeks of bootcamp and are now going into ~project mode~! Here are some deliverables we wanted to spotlight 🔦:
Organization Spotlight: MockingJ 🐦
This semester, our red designers and developers will be working on 3 client projects, and our second project spotlight is on MockingJ!
MockingJ is a smart interview prep platform designed to help students and professionals prepare for “that interview” to get their dream job by providing support to users while creating a safe, accessible, and exploratory environment for preparing for their job applications and their next big interviews.
Shoutout to Subin, Claire, James, and Acelyn for taking on this project! We can’t wait to see the finished app at showcase! 💙
Tech & Design Updates 💡
The latest tech and design news that might ~spark~ your imagination and interest
Tech 💻
What Is An NFT? Everything You Need To Know About The Future Of Art
It seems that everyday the crypto world of NFTs is making a new spectacular headline.
Can NFT Technology Expand Beyond Digital Apes and Punks?
The bubble will likely burst at some point, though, so the question is: what else can NFTs do? Do they have legitimate use cases beyond digital collectibles and art investment?
Berlin-based startup fuels no-code NFT platform for creators with €1.5 million
FUEL enables creators to build their own custom-branded NFT shop without any technical knowledge required.
Design 🖋
Takashi Murakami’s NFT art is the best thing we’ve seen this year
Is this the best NFT pixel art yet?
A graphic designer who focused on agency commissions switched to creating NFT art in 2022
Amy Kilner had been a graphic designer for 10 years, creating designs for events and other projects, when the pandemic struck in 2020.
Ukraine Has Launched an NFT ‘Museum’ to Preserve the Country’s History
Ukraine will launch an NFT museum “to preserve the statehood and history of Ukraine,” Alex Bornyakov, the country’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, said.
Upcoming Events 📆
Upcoming hackathons, creative jams, conferences, and more to add to your calendar
Tech 💻
Philly Codefest 2022, April 4
Philly Codefest is a free software and hardware hackathon that encourages students and professionals from all experience levels and backgrounds to work together to develop innovative solutions to help solve real world challenges.
YHack, April 8-10
YHack is Yale’s largest annual student-run hackathon. This year, the hackathon will be hybrid and hackers will be taken around the world to tackle global issues and explore diverse perspectives using technology.
Boston Regional Datathon, April 9th
Datathons are data science competitions that challenge students from the world's best universities to tackle real-world social challenges in topics such as urban traffic, renewable energy, and education. This will be the first in-person event Correlation One will be hosting since the start of the pandemic!
Design 🖋
Penn Engineers Without Borders Design Challenge
This design challenge aims to support Penn undergraduate student teams in developing and launching an innovative product solution for humanitarian issue pertaining to the Philadelphia community throughout the 2022 school year.
College + Hulu Creative Jam, April 7th
Showcase your talent in front of the global student community. Meet the Hulu creative team and learn about the challenge, then submit your video for a chance to win!
AIGA Design Conference, October 20–22
The AIGA Design Conference is your opportunity to participate in fresh ideation for design from leaders in the field.
Job Board 🤓
Tech and design positions tailored to college students like you <3