On April 24, more than a thousand high school students around the world will put their software skills to the test at Lockheed Martin’s annual Code Quest competition.
During Code Quest, teams of two to three students take on a series of software engineering challenges, all created by Lockheed Martin software developers to mirror real-world engineering problems.
“It’s a fun and fast-paced day, with teams scrambling to get through some pretty tough challenges and showing a lot of teamwork and collaboration,” said Whitney Holland, Lockheed Martin’s Code Quest lead. “We have problems for various skill levels, from novice to expert, and teams can compete in multiple programming languages, so there’s definitely something for everyone who wants to get involved.”
Teams can code in JAVA, Python, VB.net, C#, and/or C++ to complete challenges. While previous years’ events have been in person on Lockheed Martin sites, this one will be conducted virtually.
Now in its 9th year, Code Quest has grown substantially from initial beginnings in Fort Worth, Texas. In fact, many past Code Quest competitors have gone on to become Lockheed Martin employees and interns.
Photo from 2017 Code Quest event in Forth Worth, TX.
“Code Quest was extremely fun and challenging, and it helped me to bond with a team while putting my skills to the test,” said Spencer Paciello, a former Code Quest competitor who went on to become a Lockheed Martin intern and now a full-time employee. “My experience as an intern helped me grow my programming knowledge while contributing meaningful things to the company. I was able to learn some of the latest web technologies, serverless development, and also machine learning that I now leverage in my current role a full-time developer for Lockheed Martin Space.”
“Software will power the aerospace industry’s future, and a big part of our goal with Code Quest is to prepare tomorrow’s software innovators for career opportunities in the industry,” said Holland. “In particular, we’re focused on strengthening the diversity of the software engineering workforce, and it’s always inspiring to see a diverse and inclusive group of competitors every year.”
Ready to sign up? You just need a team of two or three high school student coders and a coach. Register here and we’ll see you on the 24th!