ODENTON, Md. – The 780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber) hosted a computer challenge event for young people, known as Hackathon VI, to encourage teen interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at the Odenton Library, Anne Arundel County Public Library, on October 29.
The October event attracted 54 young people, and not including their parents, it was the most the brigade has ever hosted since the unit started the computer challenge event in 2019.
This is the sixth year the Praetorian Soldiers and Civilians are hosting the Hackathon event where the young people can participate in a CTF (capture-the-flag) competition where they search for flags, using a variety of techniques including reverse engineering, decryption, netcat, and ssh keys; and at five other stations, the young people can complete other challenges which contribute to their overall CTF score.
Other stations staffed by the Praetorians include a Python table where participants complete python programming challenges, varying in difficulty from basic to advanced; and a Logic Games table where participants practice binary number systems, modulo operations, and Boolean algebra.
Additionally, our community partners from Locksport teach young people the art of defeating locking mechanisms, and at an adjacent table, the Maryland Mobileers Amateur Radio Club have hands on equipment to spark participant’s curiosity in wireless communication and amateur radio.
There are prizes for the 1st, 2d and 3d place finishers in the Hackathon CTF competition, and something new this year, participants received a PCB badge and earned pins for completing each station.
To register for the last Hackathon event of 2026, on November 16, visit the Anne Arundel County Public Library site at https://www.aacpl.net/event/hackathon-vi-237447.
