QWER Hacks @ UCLA is Major League Hacking's first collegiate LGBTQIA+ hackathon that celebrates the queer and trans community in STEM. We bring together queer individuals and allies through tech talks, technical and community-building workshops, and development of innovative projects to help underrepresented groups!
Presenting our theme for this year: Passion Projects! So, to build your projects, you’ll need to choose a Topic and a Format. Here are some details to help you ideate!
- Topic:
- Topic of your problem space
- Examples: Sustainability, Health Equity, anything you’re passionate about!
- Format:
- Format of your project, also the major prize tracks
- Option 1: Non-traditional
- Option 2: Traditional
In addition to the Format prize track, you can choose to opt into other superlative prize tracks when submitting your project. For the main prize tracks (format), you will be judged with the criteria below. The superlative prize tracks will be chosen by judges’ votes.
At QWER Hacks, we want to see you thrive, grow, and share joy with tech, and maybe even ✨make something great✨. So this year, we hope you to learn to find real, impactful issues, make things to help your community and spread joy, and find new pals and pride in your identity. Happy hacking!
Requirements
Remember that hackathons are like marathons. Some people go to compete but most people take part to learn new skills and have fun! All submissions must be done by groups of 2 to 4 people. You must have applied and been accepted to participate in QWER Hacks for your project to be judged.
*IMPORTANT*
Submission
Submission will be open from 9:30 PM PST, February 2nd, 2023 to 9:30 AM PST, February 4th, 2023. Judging will occur 10 AM on Feb 4 according to the [judging criteria] and awards will be announced at the ceremony at 11 AM.
Demos
After hacking finishes, teams will present live demos what they have built. It is totally okay (and even expected) that your hack is incomplete and contains bugs. Demoing is a chance to share with others what you have learned, what you tried to build, and your motivation—that's what hacking's truly about! Please submit your github repository link.
This year, to better accommodate those with internet issues or who will have difficulties presenting projects live, hackers will be presenting live. There will be live Q&A time between the judges and the teams. Demos will be 3-4 mins long. Q&A will be 1 minute.
Checklist:
- Did the hack address a clearly defined problem space that benefited from this development? Did your team explore a new application domain (e.g. art, health, etc.) with which you weren’t previously familiar?
- How relevant and creative was your project in solving an issue within the track you chose to follow?
- What technologies did your team leverage? Did your team try to learn a new technology?
- Was your team methodical and collaborative in your hacking process? Did your team overcome any obstacles or major goal changes during hacking?
- Did your team put thought into the user experience? What accessibility considerations did you make?
Prizes
Please only choose ONE track prize (don't worry, you can opt-in to multiple superlative prizes!). The superlative prizes will have their own separate criteria which can be seen under the prize names.
Prizes
Track 1: Non-Traditional
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1: AirPods Pro
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 2: Movie Projector
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 3: Ninja AF101 Air Fryer
Track 2: Traditional
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1: Pott'd Clay Kit for Beginners + You Are An Artist Book
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 2: Instant Pot
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 3: Nutri-bullet
Most QWER Hack
Ikea Rainbow Tote
Ikea DJUNGELSKOG ʕ ◕ᴥ◕ ʔ or BLAHAJ :3 !
Ikea Rainbow Smaller Tote
Queer Tarot Decks
Best Sustainability Hack
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1: Spill the Tea
- SisGotTea Tea Variety Pack
- Goose Neck Tea Kettle
- Baby Nessie Tea Strainer
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 2: Bake With Ur Besties <3
- OXO 7-Piece Nesting Measuring Beaker Set
- Escali Primo Digital Food Scale
- Nordic Ware 3 Piece Baker's Delight Sheet Trays
- Cuisinart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set, 3-Piece
Best Beginner Hack
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1: JBL Go 3 Speaker
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 2: Blue Hydroflask!
Most Whimsical
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1: Lego Frog Bonsai Tree
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 2: Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker
Most Impactful
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1: Penny Board
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 2: Guide Gear Oversized XL Padded Camping Chair
Most Joyous
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1. Woobles Crochet Kits
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ2. Inflatable Couch
Most Creative
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1: Digital Point and Shoot Camera, FHD 1080P
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 2: Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Paint Set, Studio Set, 45 Half Pans w/ Brush
Most LOL
Squatty Potty
Most Connective Hack (sponsored by Cards Against Humanity)
Head Trip Game by CAH, 2-person Hammock
Best Outdoor Accessibility Hack (sponsored by Cotopaxi)
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 1. Cotopaxi Backpack
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ 2. Annual National Park Passes
Best Use of Google Cloud (sponsored by Google Cloud)
Google Cloud Patagonia backpack
Most Inclusive Design (sponsored by Figma)
Win Extra Special Swag From Figma!
Best Use of MongoDB Atlas
M5GO IoT Starter Kit
MongoDB Atlas takes the leading modern database and makes it accessible in the cloud! Get started with a $50 credit for students or sign up for the Atlas free forever tier (no credit card required). Along with a suite of services and functionalities, you'll have everything you need to manage all of your data, and you can get a headstart with free resources from MongoDB University! Build a hack using MongoDB Atlas for a chance to win a M5GO IoT Starter Kit for you and each member of your team.
Best Domain Name from GoDaddy Registry
Hack from Home kit
GoDaddy Registry is giving you everything you need to be the best hacker no matter where you are. Register your domain name with GoDaddy Registry for a chance to win a Hack from Home Kit! Each Kit contains wireless earbuds, blue light glasses, selfie ring light and a pouch for easy transport.
Best DEI Hack sponsored by Fidelity
Fidelity Branded Wireless Charger
At Fidelity, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are viewed as major keys to the success of their business, which is why they are challenging you to come up with innovative ways to create forward-thinking financial tech that promotes equality for all people! We want you to use your hacking skills to find and build solutions that put financial opportunities and resources within reach for all communities, creating accessible, sustainable, and/or inclusive solutions. The team with the best hack will win a Fidelity branded wireless charger for each team member!
Best Use of TinyMCE
3D Printing Pen
TinyMCE is a rich-text editor that allows you to create formatted content within a hacker-friendly interface. Adding a Rich Text Editor component has never been easier! Alongside functionality like bold, italics, underlines, hyperlinks, or titles (to name a few), the editor also allows users to enable HTML tags, MarkDown or CSS. TinyMCE even gives you the ability to edit your text elements directly with no code, similar to the way you would edit a word document.
TinyMCE also has dozens of plugins that allow developers to customize their user’s experience. From implementing accessibility checkers, autocorrect, and enhanced image editing to utilizing emoticons, adding responsive design with auto resize and even a ChatGPT AI Assistant, there’s a plugin for every use case imaginable!
Signup for TinyMCE for a free trial and get started today, no credit card required! To qualify for the Best Use of TinyMCE prize category, be sure to render the editor with a Tiny Cloud account and use at least 3 open source plugins and 2 premium plugins in your project, for a chance to win a 3D Printing Pen for you and each of your team members!
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
N/A
Judging Criteria
-
Categories
Technology (appropriate use of format), Design, Completion, Topic Specific Criteria, Communication and Presentation -
General Rules
Judges will refer to the following six categories. Keep these in mind when creating your pitch videos, and remember that some categories (such as completion) aren’t weighed as heavily as others! -
Reminders
It's important to note that these criteria do NOT evaluate how good your code is. It doesn't matter if your code is messy, not well commented, or uses inefficient algorithms. Hacking is about playing around, making mistakes, and learning new things.
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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