UCI hackathon has tech junkies working overtime

Around 400 technology enthusiasts arrived at the eSports Arena in Santa Ana Friday for HackUCI, a 36-hour event organized by students and alumni from UC Irvine.

The event began Friday evening and concluded Sunday afternoon.

During the hackathon, attendees stayed up for 36 hours to write code, form websites, construct phone apps and even build hardware in the 15,000-square-foot arena.

The sleepless event hosted college and some high school students.

In between the code-writing and building that weekend, the arena was also home to a Super Smash Bros. tournament and Tech Talks with associates from companies such as Cylance Inc. and Microsoft.

All hackers had the chance to demonstrate their creations to event sponsors and attendees in an expo at the arena Sunday afternoon.