Dates

  • Check-in begins: Nov. 5, 11 a.m. You must arrange your own transportation. Parking on campus is free.
  • Submission deadline: Nov. 6, 9:00 a.m. Failure to upload projects by the deadline will result in disqualification. Begin your upload at least 15 minutes in advance. Late submissions due to timing or uploading issues will not be considered.
  • Hack ends: Nov. 6, around noon (after awards are distributed).

Eligibility

College students 18 and older can register. While it would be helpful to have some programming knowledge, you don’t have to be a programmer or computer science major. We welcome artists, makers, developers, project managers, historians, scientists, and others with unique skill sets. Everyone will work together to create and present innovative solutions.

Though unable to participate, middle and high school students will have the opportunity to attend open houses and view the teams’ work.

Project and Submission Requirements

Pitch your project in a 3-5 minutes video.

Submit other supporting materials, including your code, GitHub repositories, and PDFs of your research. 

Prizes

Overall winner and category award prizes.

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

  • Feasibility
    Is there a real distinctive competency? (hard to imitate, different enough from alternative offerings, easily recognizable to be superior)
  • Value
    Is this an excellent offering? (the product/service is clear, reasonable/doable, and has the potential to create value)
  • Team
    Is the team behind the idea strong? (relevant skills/experience, additional partners, member idea fit)
  • Impact
    Is the idea unique and creative?
  • Customers
    Do they have well-defined target customers? (clear definition, insightful understanding, decision-maker and user-defined, customers are accessible, target customers represent significant opportunity).
  • Value Proposition
    Is there an excellent value proposition? (significantly improves customer well-being/solves a problem, is distinctive, measurable, and sustainable. Succinctly stated, everybody can easily understand.)
  • Substitutes or Alternatives
    Are there substitutes or alternatives that can easily substitute the offering? (substitute: different forms that have the same functionality. alternative: different functions that serve the same purpose.)
  • Presentation
    Did the team do a good job explaining all aspects of their solution? Was the presentation well organized and easy to follow?