Excited for a weekend of networking with the coolest people and mentors, competing for incredible prizes, and coding solutions for the real world? UCSB's 10th annual hackathon is ready for you all! Mark your calendars for Jan 12-14th. Students of all backgrounds and skill sets welcome :)

What you can look forward to:

  • A 36-hour adrenaline rush from problem-solving, coding, and collaborating
  • Hands-on experience using company tech and hardware not accessible elsewhere
  • Getting mentored by industry professionals
  • Developing your skill set from workshops
  • FREE food, snacks, and drinks all weekend (just one less adult responsibility to worry about)
  • Experiencing the beautiful Santa Barbara sunsets, beaches, and weather!

 

Requirements

Submission Guidelines:

Submit your project to Devpost and demo live in front of judges on Sunday morning.

IMPORTANT: Judging will last from 9:15 AM to 11:30 AM on Sunday, Jan 14. Anyone who plans to be present during their judging must be ready by 9:00 AM. 

 

The time limit for demos is 3 minutes. Judges will have up to 2 minutes to ask any questions after the demonstration is over. Make sure that your presentation shows off your project in a clear and concise manner.

 

Note: The "About the project" section will be considered for judging in the MLH prize categories. If you are applying for any of the MLH prize categories, make sure to fill out all of the parts and give detailed answers.

The rules depend on the specific challenge that you apply for, but in general:

You cannot submit a codebase that you have worked on before Jan 12th.

Cross submission (submitting to other hackathons) is not allowed.

Also, everyone must follow the MLH code of conduct: http://mlh.io/code-of-conduct.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$4,752 in prizes
Grand Prize
1 winner

Every team member will win a new 10th Generation IPad

Environmental
1 winner

Every team member will win a pair of Sony Headphones

Student Life
1 winner

Every team member will win a pair of 3rd generation Airpods

Health and Accessability
1 winner

Every team member will win a JLB Charge 5 bluetooth speaker

Entertainment and Games
1 winner

Every team member will receive a projector

Beginner
1 winner

Every team member will receive a Keychron Keyboard

Mobile
1 winner

Every team member will receive an Echo Pop

Joke Hack
1 winner

Every team member will receive a Squishmallow

MLH - Best Use of Circle
1 winner

[Circle Branded Hardware Wallet] With Circle, you can embed secure wallets into your app in just minutes. Circle Web3 wallets are compatible with multiple blockchains and are supported by over a dozen programming language SDKs. Circle’s programmable wallets will enable you to add secure transactions to your hackathon project using RESTful APIs, with options for both user and developer controlled transactions. If your hackathon idea involves in-app purchases, user to user payments, app to user payments, or all of the above, integrating Circle programmable wallets to your Web2 or Web3 tech-stack may be the perfect solution.

Sign up for a developer account and start using Circle’s APIs today, for a chance to win a Circle Branded Hardware Wallet for you and each of your teammates!

MLH - Most Creative Use of Redis Cloud
1 winner

[Libre Mini Computer with Redis Stack Server Pre-Installed]
Redis Cloud is the easiest way to build and scale real-time applications - Period! It includes Redis Stack, adding indexing, querying, full-text search, JSON, time-series, and probabilistic data structures to the already-rich set of features of Redis.

Redis Stack works with all of your favorite programming languages and can be added to any existing application. It’s the easiest way to build real-time applications that scale and perform.

Show us how you’ve used Redis Cloud in a way that showcases your unique and specific data structure needs and each member of your team could win a personal, portable Redis Stack server IOT hardware unit to keep developing on the go. Find out why Stack Overflow Developers have voted Redis their “most loved and admired” noSQL database for years-running by rolling Redis into your MLH Hackathon project.

Sign up for your free Redis Cloud account, and head over to the MLH jump off page on Redis University for more info and docs links. Enter coupon code MLHFall2023 to claim your Redis Cloud credits and get started for free!

MLH - Best Domain Name from GoDaddy Registry
1 winner

[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.

MLH - Best Use of Starknet
1 winner

[Ticket to a Web3 conference of choice] Starknet is a general-purpose network where you can write and deploy your own smart contracts and interact with other contracts just like Ethereum. Build your application around Starknet using Rust or Python for your backend infrastructure, Starknet DSL for smart contract development, and React / JavaScript for your front end user interface. There are several SDKs available for you to choose from, making integrating Starknet into your hackathon project a breeze. Use Starknet in your project this weekend for a chance to win a Starknet care package, including a backpack, socks, water bottle, and a ticket to a Starknet sponsored Web3 conference of your choice!

MLH - Best Use of Google Cloud
1 winner

[Google Cloud Backpack] Build your hackathon project with a suite of secure storage, powerful compute, and integrated data analytics products provided by Google Cloud. See full list of products here: g.co/cloud. Learn more about the tools and opportunities with Google Cloud by joining the Google Cloud Student Innovators program - goo.gle/student-innovators. Winners will receive a Google Cloud branded backpack!

Be sure to redeem your Google Cloud Credits as soon as possible through the Google Cloud Credit Form. Use the promo code in your pre-event email to access the form!

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

SB Hacks

SB Hacks

Judging Criteria

  • Completion
    Does the hack work? Did the team achieve everything they wanted?
  • Originality
    Has this project been done before at hackathons in the past? How creative is their project in solving the problem at hand?
  • Adherence to Theme
    Does the hack adhere to the event's theme? Does it implement that theme fully or just partially?
  • Learning
    Did the team stretch themselves? Did they try to learn something new? What kind of projects have they worked on before?
  • Design
    Did the team put thought into the user experience? How well designed is the interface?
  • Technology
    How technically impressive was the hack? Was the technical problem the team tackled difficult? Did it use a particularly clever technique or did it use many different components? Did the technology involved make you go "Wow"?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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