In just a few weeks, the Innovative Technologies Complex (ITC) will be littered with energy drinks, snack wrappers, power-napping students and hundreds of overlapping laptop chargers.

HackBU, a group of Binghamton University coders that teaches its peers about computer science, launched its new website Thursday and is counting down the days until it hosts the second annual BU hackathon on March 20.

According to Itai Ferber, the HackBU director and a junior majoring in computer science, approximately 300 BU students, as well as students from around the country, will compete in the 36-hour marathon.

“’Hacking’ gets a bad rap for being a negative word, but hacking in this case means hacking something together or putting together a project,” Ferber said. “Students that go to hackathons form teams and they come up with a project idea and then they have the weekend to make that project come to life.”

Ferber said that the hackathon would be considerably different from last year’s contest, which drew nearly 225 students. While the rules would remain the same, he said, the move from Academic A to the ITC would improve the dynamic of the event.

“In a lot of ways, the ITC building is a much, much nicer venue,” Ferber said. “A, because it’s a much bigger space, it’s more comfortable. But B, it’s a beautiful location, there are a lot of windows, lots of room for students to work; it’s a lot more accommodating.”

He also said that this year’s hackathon will be sponsored by several new companies, including BrainPOP and Lockheed Martin, which will help provide giveaways, prizes and extra hardware to use during the event. This year’s tech support, he said, will include the popular virtual reality headset, Oculus Rift.

In addition to T-shirts, stickers and meals, Ferber said, coders will be competing for prizes worth hundreds of dollars from a list of items picked by HackBU. According to him, the group received most of its money for the hackathon from University and company sponsors.

The contest will officially begin at 8 p.m. on March 20 and end at 8 a.m. March 22. A group of HackBU organizers, BU faculty and sponsor representatives will then judge each project based on how well it works, how polished the product is and how technically impressive it is. The awards will be presented two and a half hours later.

Ferber said there is wide variety of designs and projects possible at any hackathon. Some, like his attempt to create a scheduling website, were practical while others can border on the ridiculous.

“One of my friends recently went to a hackathon and he decided to learn web development and he wanted to develop one from scratch,” Ferber said. “So he created a site called ‘Kitten Mingle’ which is a dating website for cats. It wasn’t a full website with all the features that he would want, but essentially you would match your cat to other compatible cats.”

Chris Beard, a member of HackBU and a junior majoring in computer science, argued that for tech-savvy students, hackathons should be something to savor and take advantage of.

“Where else can you go spend a weekend next to people that have the same interests as you, who you will probably end up fairly close to in the working world?” Beard said. “It’s a perfect way to meet new people, make friends, have fun, network and not realize any of it is happening.”