In the past, Cal Hacks has brought together 2,500 hackers from 143 schools and 10 countries to build everything from mind-reading golf carts to global news visualizations. We return this fall, standing on the shoulders of last year’s giant (where we set the world record for the largest hackathon ever), to reconvene the brightest collegiate hackers for 36 hours.
Come join us, hack, and help build the future!
Eligibility
- Teams may include up to five members.
- All hacks must be built at Cal Hacks by registered participants.
- Hackers must be current undergraduates in college.
- High school students may participate remotely and submit for the Best High-school Hack.
Requirements
A valid submission is a software or hardware hack produced at Cal Hacks, from start to finish.
This includes a ChallengePost submission to Cal Hacks and a demonstration during the Hack Expo on Sunday, November 13, 2016. Please include a video or photo of the working product.
Prizes
$49,930 in prizes
1st Place Award
Makerbot 3D Desktop Replicator (1) + Amazon Dot(for each team member) + Dinner with Pear Partner + A private you of IBM Innovation Space in San Francisco and lunch (travel cost not included) + Developer Survival Kit Backpack from IBM + Oculus Rifts for all teammates
2nd Place Award
1 PrintrBot Plus 3D Printer + Amazon Dots (for each team member) + Luma Wi-Fi Units (for each team member) + Developer Survival Kit Backpack from IBM
3rd Place Award
Jawbone BIG JAMBOX Wireless Bluetooth Speakers (for each team member) + 2 Raspberry Pi Model B's Kits + 2 Raspberry Pi 1 Model A+ Kits + Developer Survival Kit Backpack from IBM
IBM Sponsor Prize
GoPros for each team member
Capital One API Award
$300 Amazon Gift Cards for each member of the winning team
Square API Prize
$1000 for team in cash
NEC API Award
Amazon Alexa's for each team member
Amadeus API Award
$2000
Synaptics API Prize - Most Innovative Hack with Fingerprint Sensor
There will be 2 prizes: Most Innovative Hack with Synaptics Fingerprint Sensor: $1,000 team prize.
Synaptics Most Innovative Hack with Synaptics Large Touchscreen
Most Innovative Hack with Synaptics Large Touchscreen: $1,000 team prize
Blackrock
Quadcopter drones for each member of the team
KLA Tencor
Drones and Lunch with KLA-Tencor’s Chief Engineering Officer
Challenge: FOUP Me challenge is to move one of these FOUPs via robotics by a distance of 3 feet to a target zone within 5 minutes. Scoring is based on KLA-Tencor Hackathon Criteria Impact, Innovation, Technology, Execution.
RapidAPI Prize
Drones for the best use of RapidAPI for each team member
GoDaddy API Prize
~ secret ~
Best Use of Microsoft Technology Award
Surface Pro 4 (i7) for each team member
Cycle.io API Award
$200 in Amazon credit for team to share.
$100 in Cycle credit per team member
SAP Best Travel Hack Award
Drones for all members of the team
Tanvas API Award
Remote drone w/ HD Camera for each participant and early access to Tanvas developer kit
Twilio API Prize
Amazon Dots for the best use of the Twilio API for each team member.
Nasdaq API Award
Invitation to join the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center Site and a photo of teammates on Market Site digital billboard in the heart of Times Square.
1517 API Award
$1,000 grant + $5,000 in AWS credits + future mentorship
Best Veterans Hack
Divoom Customizable Light-up Bluetooth Speakers for each team member
Best Mobile App
Pebble Time Smartwatches for each team member.
Best Security Hack
GoPro for each member of the team from Fireeye
Best Hardware Hack
Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Kits for each team member.
Best VR Hack
Kinect for Windows 2.0 Dev Kits for each team member
Best Gaming Hack
Kinect for Windows 2.0 Dev Kits for each team member
Best 3D Printer Hack
1 Up Plus2 3D Printer
Best Social Impact Hack
LED Backlit Gaming Keyboards for each team member
Best Beginner Hack ("Hello World")
Cheerwing Soma Quadcopter Drones with Wi-Fi Cameras for each team member
Best Web App
Raspberry Pi 1 Model A+ Kits for each team member
Best Potential Startup Hack
Lunch with a Pear Partner
Best Health App
Fitbits for each team member
Best Education Hack
Kindles for each team member
Best UI/UX Prize
Polaroid Camera + Polaroid Film for each team member
Best ML Hack
A foam roller and an interview with Pavlov.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges

DDOski
Cal Hacks
Judging Criteria
-
Potential Positive Impact
Is this a product that people will use in their daily lives? Will it make lives better? -
User Interface and Experience
How refined does the app look? Is it smooth? Are there animations and cool image assets? -
Originality and Innovation
Is this project unique and innovative? Is it a solution to a problem we have never seen before? A better way of doing something? -
Technical Difficulty
How difficult was it to implement this project? Are there lots of APIs and libraries and languages involved? Did you use a really cool algorithm?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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