Tracks

  • Education
    • The education track winner will be the best hack which enhances learning experiences and accessibility for students of all ages.
  • Interactive Media & Gaming
    • The interactive media and gaming track invites hackers to push the boundaries of entertainment and engagement through immersive experiences. Participants can explore game design, augmented and virtual reality applications, interactive storytelling, etc.
  • Health
    • The health track winner will be the best hack which empowers people to improve their health or the health of others.
  • Sustainability
    • The sustainability track encourages teams to devise solutions that promote environmental stewardship and resource efficiency.
  • Accessibility
    • The accessibility track challenges hackers to create solutions that enhance usability and inclusivity for people with diverse needs. This could involve developing assistive technologies, user-friendly interfaces, or anything else that makes technology more accessible for all.
  • Optimization
    • The optimization track winner will be the best hack which optimizes some process for time, space or a certain use case. This can include training a machine learning model. developing an application which utilizes models, etc.

Rules

Use common judgment. But to be extra clear...

  • How many people per team?
    • Four (4) people per team. You can also participate solo.
  • Can I crosspost to other hackathons on the same weekend?
    • No
  • Do I have to submit code?
    • Yes, please send a GitHub repo, repl.it, Google Drive link, etc. You will be able to submit this in your DevPost submission.
  • Can I use publicly available frameworks?
    • Yes, you may also use ChatGPT/LLM/AI.
  • Can I make multiple projects?
    • No
  • Can I submit to multiple tracks?
    • No, but you may submit to as many sponsor tracks/prizes as you'd like.
  • Deadline for submissions
    • 9/29/24 at 12:00 PM EST
  • How will judging work?
    • It will be in-person science fair style. We ask that you remain at the table number you indicated while submitting on DevPost.
  • Who is allowed to participate
    • Students over the age of 18. Mentors/volunteers/organizers are not permitted to submit on DevPost.
  • Any categories that require me to be a specific demographic?
    • No

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

Innovation

  • Originality and uniqueness of the idea or solution.
  • Creative problem-solving and novel approaches to challenges.
  • Demonstrated innovation in addressing real-world issues or needs.

Technical Complexity

  • Depth of technical implementation and sophistication.
  • Effective utilization of advanced technologies, tools, and programming languages.
  • Robustness and scalability of the technical solution.

Usability

  • Intuitiveness and user-friendliness of the project.
  • Accessibility and inclusivity in design and functionality.
  • Consideration of the end-user experience and potential impact on a broader audience.

Adherence to Theme

  • Alignment with the specified hackathon theme or challenge.
  • Clear demonstration of how the project addresses and contributes to the theme.
  • Creativity in interpreting and incorporating the theme into the project.