Hack River Dell

On Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 Assistant U.S. Attorney Jud Welle spoke at the opening ceremony at Hack river Dell, a “hackathon” hosted at river Dell Regional High School in Oradell, New Jersey.

A “hackathon” is a coding event in which teams collaborate on a project that creates a game, website, or app.  This event was part of Local Hack Day 2016, an event in which schools around the world simultaneously host their own local hackathons. 

The event was organized and supported by Major League Hacking (MLH), the official student hackathon league.  According to the organizers, each year, MLH sponsors over 200 weekend-long invention competitions to inspire innovation and teach computer science skills to more than 65,000 students worldwide.

AUSA Welle met the school’s superintendent and principal, technology teachers, and several student organizers, volunteers, and participants.  He also networked with co-speakers Dave Weinsten (Chief Technology Officer for the State of New Jersey) and Gurbir Grewal (Bergen County Prosecutor).  Finally, he chatted with US Secret Service Special Agent Scott Sarafian, who sent the invitation for this event.  Scott is assigned to the USSS office in NYC and his son, Greg, was the principal student organizer for the event.