About the challenge

HackFox is a 10-hour mini hackathon where teams will design and build from scratch an information system to manage academic justifications, using MongoDB as the main database technology. Participants will work in teams of up to four members and go through the complete software engineering process—from requirement gathering to deployment—focusing on scalability and real-world data.  

Get started

The goal: replace a slow, manual justification process with an automated system that identifies which classes need to be justified for each student, integrates event data, and tracks approvals from professors and coordinators — all within a scalable and data-driven platform.

Participants will go through every stage of a real engineering project — from defining requirements and designing data models, to implementing APIs, testing, and deployment.  

Milestone-Based Structure

Instead of hourly sprints, teams will work through five milestones that mirror real project phases, giving flexibility while maintaining structure.

 

Milestone Goal Suggested Time
Milestone 1 – Problem & Requirements Definition Identify actors, define functional and non-functional requirements, and outline the MVP. ~1.5h
Milestone 2 – Architecture & Data Design Design MongoDB collections, relations, and indexes. Define the backend architecture. ~2h
Milestone 3 – Core Feature Development Implement the justification flow: create requests, detect affected classes, validate, approve/reject. ~3.5h
Milestone 4 – Interface & Testing Create a basic UI or run API tests via Postman. Validate full system behavior. ~2.5h
Milestone 5 – Final Demo & Documentation Deliver working code, README, and short video demo. ~0.5h

 

Requirements

What to Build

Your team must design and implement a system that allows:

  • Coorditators to submit justification requests with supporting evidence.
  • Automatic detection of impacted classes based on student schedules.
  • Dean of Engineering to approve or reject requests.
  • Storage and queries handled efficiently using MongoDB.  
Bonus points for integrating:
  • Dashboards or analytics (e.g., number of approvals, response time).
  • Authentication and roles.
  • Deployment on MongoDB Atlas + Render/Vercel.  

 

Detailed Description of Additional Documents

General Guidelines

"Entrevista" (Stakeholder Interview)

This document contains a conversation with the primary stakeholder or end-user of the process.
It includes:

  • Their needsPain points
  • Current workflow challenges
  • Expected improvements
  • Constraints and must-have features

Purpose:
To help teams identify real functional and non-functional requirements directly from the user perspective.
This is the foundation for:

  • Defining scope
  • Prioritizing features
  • Creating user stories
  • Guiding the overall solution design

 

"Kiosko Interview" (Executive Kiosk Template)

This is a structured template that teams will use to document their analysis, system design, and requirement specification.
The template typically includes sections like:

  • Actor definitions
  • Functional and non-functional requirements
  • System objectives
  • Data flow
  • High-level architecture Key endpoints
  • Expected outputs or system behavior

Purpose:
To standardize documentation so all teams present their system in a clear, comparable, and professional format.
It ensures teams think through system behavior before coding.

 

"Ejemplo de Llenado" (Filled Example Template)

This document shows a completed sample of the Kiosko Directivo template.
It demonstrates:

  • How each section should be written
  • The level of detail expected
  • How to document requirements correctly
  • How to structure diagrams or explanations
  • What a complete analysis looks like

Purpose:
To serve as a reference or guide, helping teams properly document their work even if they have little experience with requirement specification.

 

"srvlistas.htm" (Students Schedules & Class Data) 

This file contains raw HTML data with student schedules, classes, groups, and time slots.
Inside, teams will find:

  • Student IDs
  • Names
  • Courses
  • Groups
  • Days and times of classes
  • Assigned professors

Purpose:
This serves as the primary dataset teams will use to build their system. It guarantees every team is working with the same raw data, leveling the playing field.

 

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

3 non-cash prizes
Best Use of MongoDB
1 winner

For the team that demonstrates outstanding use of MongoDB, scalability, and clean architecture.
Certificate of excellence + technical mentoring session + MongoDB / MLH swag

Best Overall Project
1 winner

Awarded to the team with the most complete, impactful, and technically sound solution.
Certificate of excellence + local prize + potential feature in CETYS news.

Special Mentions
1 winner

For teams that stood out in collaboration, innovation, or documentation.
Certificates + community shout-out + optional mentoring opportunity.

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Adrian Gonzalez

Adrian Gonzalez
Gulfstream

Edwin Salinas

Edwin Salinas
Oshi Health

Edson De León

Edson De León
CETYS

Judging Criteria

  • Problem Solving
    How effectively does the project address the main challenge of automating the justification process? Is the solution functional and relevant to the problem?
  • Technical Implementation
    Quality of the codebase, architecture, and MongoDB usage. Proper data modeling, indexing, and scalability will be key.
  • Product & UX
    Is the interface intuitive, accessible, and well-presented? Does it clearly communicate the process to users?
  • Documentation & Deployment
    Quality of the README, clarity of setup instructions, and availability of a working demo or API endpoints.
  • Project Management
    How well did the team organize milestones, manage collaboration, and deliver progress consistently?
  • Innovation & Creativity
    Any unique features, integrations, or approaches beyond the MVP that enhance the project.

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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