What is a hackathon?

A hackathon is an event where teams of creators come together to collaborate on solving a problem using technology. It’s an exciting opportunity to meet like-minded people, learn new things, and develop any skills! It can sound intimidating, but hackathons are meant to welcome people of all skill levels and backgrounds. All you need is curiosity, and with the right tools of preparation, anyone can have a successful hackathon experience.

Why participate in a hackathon?

A hackathon allows for you to build skills related to coding. You will quickly learn how to debug code and how to create a prototype. If you are a beginner, this will be a good introduction to the world of coding in a professional setting. If you are a more advanced programmer, this will be a good way to boost your resume. Even if you don’t win in the end, your project can be a good way to showcase the skills you have acquired to future interviewers. If you win or place, your project could get picked up by one of the companies that are present at the hackathon. You also have the opportunity to network with the multitude of company sponsors that set up booths at the hackathon. If you’re interested in reading about the previous year’s winner’s experience, learn more here.

How to prepare?

To set yourself up for success, here’s some things you can do before the event:

1. Research the theme and tools: Before the event, be sure to familiarize yourself with the theme of the hackathon. This can help you narrow down your scope of ideas. Also, you might want to brainstorm potential project ideas based on the themes and tracks, but make sure you don’t work on the implementation before the hackathon starts. It’s also important to figure out what platforms, languages, or software you’re most comfortable using, so you don’t have to spend time during the competition doing it. See our website, sbhacks.com, for more information and specific FAQs.
2. Find a group: If you don’t already have a group, there will be group formation activities at the start of the hackathon. Look for teammates who complement your strengths, whether it’s coding, design, or problem-solving. Communication is important — make sure to be upfront about your strengths and weaknesses, and set clear goals and expectations. This will help make your team journey a little smoother.
3. Set realistic goals: Hackathons can be really intense, but they are also only 24 hours. It’s essential to set goals that are achievable within the time constraints. You don’t need to aim for a fully functional, perfect product, but instead aim to create something that’s innovative and demonstrates your problem-solving skills.

What should you do during the Hackathon? Is there any wrong way to “do” a Hackathon?

There is no wrong way to “do” a hackathon. Other than coding, you can spend time networking with the representatives from different companies and listen to their talks. You can meet and connect with other peers from all over who are also attempting to enter the same career field as you. You can learn new skills from other people or help others learn new skills. There is so much to do in the 24 hours you spend at the hackathon.

But, if this is your first time at a hackathon, here are a few tips:

1. Take breaks: Don’t spend too much time coding. Breaks allow for your brain to rest and give you the chance to come up with fresh ideas. The best thing you can do when running into a problem or a bug that won’t go away is to step away and come back.
2. Take advantage of the resources: Network with the sponsors and industry professionals who are attending the hackathon. Take advantage of the mentors and workshops provided that can help you improve and master your coding and problem-solving skills.
3. Manage your time: 24 hours might sound like a long time, but they go by really fast. Don’t expect to finish the entire project in the last two hours. Making a good project takes time. Prioritize making a demo or prototype first, before optimizing your project. It is more important to have a complete project, than to have one perfect but half-made.
4. Find good teammates: Make sure your team members are people who you know will work hard and will work well with you. You don’t want to have to pick up the slack for another teammate, and you don’t have the time to.
5. Have Fun!

This year, SBHacks revisits a member of one of the winning teams of SBHacks X, Jiaming Liu, who participated in a short interview about his time in our hackathon, his initial programming experience, and his professional and personal coding adventures. For those of you interested in potentially participating in this year’s installment of SBHacks, read on to find out more about what you can expect from this experience, and what you can gain from competitive programming overall!

Jiaming’s team created a unique and practical pass time predictor app to prepare students for the hectic quarterly course registration process. With the data they collected, they were able to implement UCSB Passtimes Pilot.

Q: How much experience did you have with competitive coding and hackathons before participating in SBHacks?

Jiaming, who discovered his interest in programming during his high school freshman year, said he began “coding like crazy” during the COVID-19 lockdown. Using online Python tutorials, he built his first app for an e-commerce aggregator, using Flask for backend and Swift UI (iOS) for frontend development. He continued to exercise his coding skills and creativity by familiarizing himself with web frameworks like Flask, creating more projects like UCSB Platinum, and even participating in ICPC regionals.

Q: Why SBHacks?

Jiaming pointed to his past experiences with participating in (and organizing!) hackathons in high school with competitive programming as the impetus for his decision to participate in SBHacks X.

“It was really fun having to think and code as fast as possible,” Jiaming said. “The exercise of considering the business functionalities of an app, its technical detail and implementation, and the worth of the final product teaches you to think”.

Q: What advice would you have for first-time hackers looking into SBHacks?

Jiaming advises to think about a project idea beforehand, but don’t start implementing your idea before the hackathon begins. Meaningful ideas are difficult to come up with during the given timespan, and hackathons are a more “fulfilling journey” that allow you to learn the most if you come prepared.

“Think of it as a prepared battle rather than a spontaneous one.”

Q: How did you feel SBHacks strengthened you as a programmer?

SBHacks gave Jiaming another opportunity to exercise his talent and build a new product.

“The shorter timespan to come up with idea and implement everything as a team provides you with experience and constraints that force you to work together,” Jiaming said.

Hackathons are all about collaboration, rather than having one person carry a group’s work.

Q: Did you feel that your SBHacks experience (or competitive coding in general) prepared you for professional coding in your job? How so?

After SBHacks X, Jiaming secured an internship position during the summer of 2024 in the backend development team in the e-commerce division of Bytedance (the parent company of the popular app Tiktok, based in China). As a member of the product validation team, Jiaming reviewed the business requirements and constraints of produce, checked for inconsistencies amongst products, and gained valuable professional experience with database technologies such as MySQL. The continuity of Jiaming’s coding experience aided in his professional success, and he specifically emphasized the growth of his product development skills that SBHacks fostered.

“It is very important to implement complicated things quickly and accurately in a job, where you don’t have [an abundance of time] in a CS lab to implement something simple — you need to get things done fast,” Jiaming said.

Jiaming’s success proves the worth of attending programming competitions such as SBHacks, which allowed him to continue growing professionally and personally in the world of coding. If his experience with hackathons has inspired you and you would like to participate in our upcoming SBHacks XI, make sure to head over to our website to sign up and learn more about our event!

Written by Sanjana Bhupathi from the SBHacks team

Since Major League Hacking’s (MLH) introduction of their first mascot Ada in 2016, mascots have grown in popularity among the hackathon community. In MLH itself, their mascot history has cycled through various faces.

Our very own SB Hacks features the sea otter across our branding and visual identity. How are these mascots created? What role do they play within the hacker community? And why is the otter so important to SB Hacks?

Using MLH’s 2020 season North American collegiate hackathon list, we conducted a quick investigation on mascot type and usage. This data infographic was created by scanning through all listed hackathons in the 2020 season for the hackathon’s mascot, even if the mascot was in a previous iteration. Some mascots were featured more prominently than others, so we examined the differences in mascot choice popularity and analyzed our findings. Notably, there are not a lot of obvious and/or confirmed mascots at hackathons; the emphasis on mascots also varies from hackathon to hackathon.

Fun fact — the top mascot type is birds, who knew?

Disclaimer: this is not official research and was conducted from the viewpoint of an outsider visiting hackathons’ various online platforms.

How the Otter Came to Be

Shortly after SB Hacks IV took place in 2018, our marketing team began toying with the idea of rebranding SB Hacks in its entirety. We sought a fresh new look, tone, and visual identity for the organization.

We pondered the question “Why SB Hacks?” and considered our surroundings. Although UC Santa Barbara’s seaside location is enviable to many, it comes with its own set of challenges — distance from major technology influences. Ultimately, we decided to focus on highlighting the importance of community and approachability. SB Hacks intends to capitalize on our unique location by helping to connect each other to the necessary resources to foster, develop, and learn new skills in the CS industry.

Designer Sherry Lam took on the logo redesign challenge and settled on a monogram design. The team was pleased with all the boxes checked off: simple, scalable, memorable, versatile. (Bonus points for anyone who recognized the HTML tags in the “S”!)

Although a seal had been used in the previous hackathon iteration, Marketing Coordinator Esther Liu searched for an alternative that would hold significance to Santa Barbara. After doing a bit of research on the local marine ecosystems, she proposed the sea otter for several reasons:

• Keystone animal of the waters offshore of Santa Barbara — direct connection to our campus location
• Characteristics of holding hands and staying together in groups — signifies a central idea of collaboration and close-knit community
• Undeniably cute — — works well in balancing out the crisp, professional look of the logo in a way that the organization is still perceived to be friendly and a welcoming environment to learn

Bringing the Otter to Life

The otter went through several different versions — each one carries its own personality. Check out the different designs and its usages below.

Eventually, Designer Tina Shi outlined a design process for creating our most current otter mascot in 2019. You can read about her experience in a short Q&A article here.

Interactive Otters

Here are some fun examples where hackers were able to interact with the otter during SB Hacks VI earlier this year.

• We hosted a mascot drawing contest at SB Hacks VII for hackers to show their creative take on the otter. Here’s the winner and more fanart of the otter.

• To add a unique flair to SB Hacks’ Slack, Tina created some cute animated custom emojis

• And of course.. the essentials of any hackathon… stickers! The otter appears in many different places: water bottles, bikes, laptops.

Closing Thoughts

Otters are great. But on a more serious note, we wanted to write this article to raise awareness and provide an insider’s look into hackathon mascots. We hope it was fun learning about the excitement a mascot brings to the hackathon community!

Written by Jayleen Li and Esther Liu from the SB Hacks Team

Tina Shi, our current Design Lead, is the otter artist. An incoming junior at UC Santa Barbara, Tina has been with our organization since Fall 2018. Her favorite battle gear layout is Adobe Photoshop and her trusty iPad. Through a Zoom interview, Tina discussed her design process for the sea otter and gave us an insider’s look at her drafted sketches.

Q: What does the otter mean to you?

For me, the otter is my child. The otter is some kind of an embodiment of my passion towards SB Hacks. I wanted to make something that is a fun and cool mascot for this hackathon — so when people look at this otter, they can make the connection to SB Hacks. This otter is essentially a way for me to connect with people who are interested in the hackathon and the SB Hacks organization itself.

Here’s a walkthrough of the sketches and drawings Tina showed us. The design process started with settling down on a style.

I wanted to try vector art or a flat-style for two reasons. It was trending at the time, and it served as a good design challenge.

Q: Hardest/easiest part about making the otter?

The hardest part about making the otter was drawing in a style I’ve never used before: geometric and vectorized. Transitioning from a more fluid and fine-tine style to something more representational while pinpointing what kind of energy I wanted the otter to have was also difficult.

The easiest part about the design process was coming up with the color scheme. Most of the color choices were very logical and followed otter photos, including a dark and light variation.

Q: When you were creating the otter, where did you draw inspiration from?

There was a lot of googling and time spent on browsing through images of actual sea otters. It also helped to reference other aquatic/marine creatures. I focused on understanding the most simplistic and minimalist features of the otter to best represent its essence.

I also looked at what draws people to certain elements to convey the energy and idea that you want the audience to understand. Other forms of inspiration also came from looking at other vector art otters and getting a feel for what works, what doesn’t, and how I can make that unique in my own design.

Q: What inspires you as a designer?

This is a cliché line but a lot of it is from observation. It’s sometimes a “in the moment” thing where you are feeling something, and if that’s an energy you want to capture then you think of what shape would be representative of that feeling. Maybe it’s a smoother curve, maybe a more jagged shape, or a more rounded or more squarish shape. For the color, it could be a very vibrant color or more dulled down color. You have to figure out how to contrast these colors to give the exact emotion for the design.

Sometimes inspirations are entirely disconnected. There is an idea but you can’t quite grasp it, and you have to look through different resources online such as images, articles, or other people’s illustrations for inspiration. Sometimes out of nowhere it will click, and the idea forms in your mind.

Q: How does the otter relate to the SB Hacks mission statement about community?

From a design aspect, the specific colors I picked for the otter were ones that would fit well with the blue background. Blue appeared a lot in last year’s sea theme, so I picked this color combination because it contrasts well but at the same time goes together well. For SB Hacks, this is a way of showing that we are an ocean school and build community as our hackers.

From a more conceptual standpoint, why the otter became the mascot is from the fact that Santa Barbara is a city with a lot of marine life. Obviously there are many sea animals, but the sea otter is pertinent to the Santa Barbara ecosystem. It is the main predator to sea urchins and sea urchins are the major product of Santa Barbara.

At the same time, the sea otter is essential to the ecosystem, and therefore having it as the mascot for the hackathon shows that our hackers are essential to this community. They are the ones who build this community, grow this community, and improve this community. For this reason we hope that SB Hacks would be the place to help our hackers hone their skills, better themselves, and make some projects that they will be proud of. We want to promote a sense of belonging as someone who is passionate about technology and passionate about making a project that matters.

[Hackers] are the ones who build this community, grow this community, and improve this community.

Q: Favorite slack emoji?

I like the question mark one, because it’s the first one I tried to animate and I thought it would be really fun to see the otter in action. Another reason is that when people ask questions in the main slack channel, many people will have similar questions. I included that emoji so hackers can “+1” the question by reacting to it with the confused otter emoji.

Q: Is there anything you would change about how the otter is presented right now?

Maybe because I’m not super comfortable with vector art, but when I’m trying to pose the otter in a different pose, it can be difficult. I don’t know how the geometric body and the geometric arm are going to look like together. Sometimes I think I should have designed it slightly better so it could be easier on the designer. At the same time, one of my main concerns is that people do not recognize that the mascot is an otter. Perhaps there’s a better way to preserve and capture the essence of the otter.

I am both a fan and not a fan of the elongated body. It looks awkward when you are trying to make the otter sit because only the feet sit but the rest of the otter is not. However I’m quite proud of the elongated body in the extension deadline extension visual I made. I think it is a fun thing to play with.

Other than that, I would change the presentation of the otter to have a more cool factor because right now it’s mainly “cute.” I am concerned if that’s appealing to a majority of the hackers. However, the otter was pretty well received from all the stickers and badges from SB Hacks VI, so I would say overall it’s a pretty successful design.

Written by Jayleen Li and Esther Liu from the SB Hacks Team

Despite our sleepless nights and graveyard shifts, the real treasure was getting to know each and every one of you. The most introspective topics sprang about from 3am conversations when some hackers just needed a break and began chatting with a nearby organizer. Even the occasional debate about the best caffeinated drink (It’s Yerba Mate, hands down) served a greater purpose.

Even though SB Hacks V is over, the organizing team is actively reflecting and seeking new ways to make our events run even better in the future. Whether you noticed or not, here are some of the problems that our organizers worked hard behind the scenes so that we can host a huge and memorable event for everyone.

The amount of hacking space definitely came with its own challenges. While Corwin served as the central hacking area, teams didn’t have very many options in terms of private hacking areas. It would’ve been great if the Multicultural Center room was larger or if we had an additional venue for hackers. In turn, this generated a chained issue — napping spaces. In order to abide by rental property rules, we could only designate one certain area for napping. Hence, please forgive the organizers who went around asking you to wake up or to move to the Harbor Room.

Food is another topic that organizers will look further to change for the next hackathon. We are committed to making a stronger effort in meeting the dietary restrictions declared in hacker reservations. Not only should we have more options for vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free hackers but also to provide for healthier meals. Seems counter-intuitive, placing “hackathon” and “healthy” in the same sentence, but striking a good balance would definitely improve the food aspect of the event.

But overall, based on all the feedback we received from hackers post-event, this was a positive experience. Many left UCSB with something meaningful.

There were many fun activities that brought together hackers from all different backgrounds, whether this was their 1st or 30th hackathon. The #random channel on Slack continuously filled with fresh memes from everyone. Jukebot allowed all the hackers to contribute their own music tastes by suggesting songs or artists to play. The typing speed challenge encouraged everyone to try their hand at being the fastest typer in the west. #NoHackerLeftBehind

Although the weather refused to cooperate the first morning, we were still able to execute a sunrise walk Sunday morning! Despite the strict deadlines of everyone’s project submissions, stepping outside for a much needed breath of fresh air was very soothing. Hackers were able to enjoy the vastness of an open stretch of sandy shore, listen to the sound of breaking waves, and observe the sky illuminate with color. This ended up being a bittersweet moment — our last bonding activity before the end of hacking and closing ceremony.

Lastly, a big hearty congratulations to all the winners! Just wanted to give Proxi a huge shoutout for being the grand prize winner(: They developed an end-to-end, software and hardware solution to successfully reduce the dangers that bikers face everyday. Check out all the cool, innovative projects at https://sbhacksv.devpost.com/

Thank you again to all the mentors and sponsors that came out to support our event! We look forward to seeing everyone again at SB Hacks VI. Still missing SB Hacks V? Watch our recap video here!

Thoughts or comments? We’d love to hear from you! Leave us a message down below ~

Esther Liu | Marketing Coordinator

It’s 11 PM and you can hear chattering throughout the room, not the annoying kind though, it’s more lively and motivational. Everyone’s checked into the hackathon and getting comfortable by meeting each other and forming teams, setting up their laptops, extra desktop monitors, or checking out new gadgets from the hardware lab provided by Major League Hacking (MLH). The room is filled with exciting and intellectual discussions about what problems need to be solved, creative proposals to these solutions, and breakdowns of what languages or programs needed to complete such a challenge as a hackathon.

Welcome to SB Hacks V, the fifth annual hackathon at UC Santa Barbara. It’s a room filled with more than 500 college students and mentors from all across California, some out of state and even out of the country! Students of different backgrounds and levels of experience all gather here with the same goal: gaining a better idea of projects to explore in the future. This also includes an unforgettable experience as they interact with other participants and mentors, each offering their words of wisdom. This is obtained through interacting with other participants, as well as the mentors that visit and offer their words of wisdoms to these students.

Hackathons offer a safe space and the resources for students to learn from their mistakes, as well as explore concepts and fields of computer science and engineering that are not typically included in a college curriculum. This event, along with every other hackathon, is significant toward a student’s education because it provides something that universities cannot — a unique experience for self-discovery. Higher education is meant to be a place for personal and career growth, however, some students may lack the knowledge to navigate through their desired field of interest even with the help of professors and academic advisers. Hackathons such as SB Hacks allows students to seek career advice and connect with people thriving in the industry. In some cases, it is a place for students to discover that they show more passion while working on their personal projects and learning on their own, rather than taking the same tests in class with everyone else. Most importantly, hackathons offer each participant a network of valuable connections that continue on after the hackathon.

“SB Hacks” is the University of California Santa Barbara’s annual hackathon and is organized by an enthusiastic team of students passionate about innovation. This student run organization works endlessly throughout the school year because they believe in learning by doing, and they want to continue bringing students the opportunity to work on company technology or hardware they normally would not have access to. Of course, as a small team of students, the SB Hacks team needs as much support from the community and beyond. This entails a diverse group of sponsors and mentors from Santa Barbara and around the globe.

Since hackathons are a place of personal and professional growth, hackathon organizers often seek mentors from companies to provide participants with an unforgettable experience of working and connecting with the company’s engineering department’s employees. The mentors are usually present to answer any questions regarding the company technology such as their Application Programming Interfaces (API), which are free tools given to software developers who are interested in a company’s services and integrating them into their projects. However, it is also a great opportunity for companies to recognize hard-working individuals who are passionate and enthusiastic about working on their project.

In the past, SB Hacks has had support from companies such as Firebase, IBM, Esri, Lockheed Martin, and LogMeIn. As a sponsor, these companies are offered a table at the hackathon for the 36 hour weekend long event. Representatives and mentors are sent to campus to talk about their company, meet with enthusiastic individuals, give out free company gear, also known as “swag”, and offer their advice and knowledge to students that aspire to become developers, engineers, data scientists, entrepreneurs, or product managers after college. Companies also offer their own challenges and prizes to the participants at a hackathon, which gives them an opportunity to seek out motivated individuals and view their skill sets on the spot.

In fact, some of the teams that have won in the past were the ones that utilized a sponsored company’s API and sought mentorship during the process. By having mentors attend hackathons, the quality of the submitted projects tend to increase, and hackers are able to leave the event with not only a better understanding of their project and technical skills, but they are able to gain interpersonal soft skills as they practice interacting with industry professionals and growing their network.

As SB Hacks is approaching their fifth year as an up and coming organization, they receive more and more applications each year, for there is a growing demand to experience SB Hacks. This means that the organizers face difficulties of providing a seat to everyone that applies. With an increase of applicants, there is an expected increase in quality of the projects submitted at the event. For this reason, they are becoming more selective of their applicants in order to provide sponsors and mentors with hackers that are guaranteed to put in their best efforts to submit quality projects. After all, hackathons are essentially mini career fairs and networking events. The organization wants to improve the hacker and mentor dynamics positively so that both sides can benefit from each other. In order to achieve that goal, SB Hacks is working towards inviting more mentors to the hackathon so that each team of hackers are able to work with a mentor throughout the weekend.

While mentors are there to offer their knowledge and expertise to the hackers and help them improve the quality of their projects, hackers are there to improve their technical and professional skills. Frequently, students are too shy or scared to ask for help in school, whether it be for an assignment, or career advice. Hackathons give participants the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone to seek mentorships. This allows participants to pick up interpersonal communication skills so that they can practice asking questions, not only regarding their project, but questions about life in the industry. These mentor to participant moments at hackathons allow both parties to build a connection with one another that can carry on after the hackathon.

The best mentors are the ones that are able to reflect on their own growth and progress over time. They are the ones that are patient and understanding to help any hackers of different skill levels. They remember how it feels like to start working in a new field after college so that they can relate with the participants. The mentors that are able to communicate their story well and connect to the hackers are the ones who can provide more to the hackathon. By doing so, they are able to create a network with young, excited, and growing engineers that might even join them in the industry down the line.

Hackers benefit from these mentor to participant moments because they learn how to accept feedback and criticism regarding their skills and projects. These hackers are learning how to invest in their future by speaking to professionals in their intended field and learning everything they can about the roles, frameworks, languages, and skill sets required for a company. Ultimately, hackers are able to develop an attitude by interacting with mentors. They become enthusiastic and invested in their goals. By having a mentor to work with during the weekend of the hackathon, hackers are able to commit to their project and develop professional work ethics that will serve them well in the workplace, wherever they may end up. During the weekend of the hackathon, participants will develop their projects, as well as an attitude towards success.

In the future, SB Hacks would like to increase the amount of female hackers and mentors at their events. It is evident that women are highly underrepresented in the field of technology and engineering, and one of the reasons for that is because there are not enough people encouraging girls to stay in the field after college. In the past, SB Hacks has received about 300 female applicants out of 1600 applicants, however, only about 60 females actually show up to the event. SB Hacks believes that an increase in diverse sponsors and mentors can help show that in an environment that is dominant of male developers and engineers, there is space for females and people of color to feel welcome and compete equally. Furthermore, by having more inspiring female mentors and sponsors, SB Hacks believes that they will be able to connect more female programmers and engineers to relatable mentors at the event, and possibly contribute to closing the gender gap in the industry.

Here are some example projects that have been made in the past with the assistance of mentors from sponsoring companies.

CleanBeats.ai is a python script that utilizes machine learning to take an audio file and replaces inappropriate words with another word of the user’s choice. This allows users to be creative with their listening choices or hide explicit music in social settings. Check out the project here.

Burman Meeting Solutions is a smart assistant for meetings that combines speech recognition and Neuro-linguistic programming to automate tasks and improve work culture. This team utilized Javascript, Python, Google Cloud Speech API, and Azure Services and was one of the top 10 projects from SB Hacks IV. Check out the project here.

SB Hacks V is happening over the weekend of January 11–13, 2019 at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

To be part of a mentorship is one of the most valuable experiences that a student can have anytime during their life, whether it be in school or in the workforce. With that said, let us take a moment to appreciate all the mentors out there. Whether you are promoting computer science, engineering, or another field, remember that you are creating an impact on the younger generation, and they truly appreciate your time. Mentors continue to inspire their mentees everyday to create a better tomorrow.

If you or someone you know is interested in keeping the hackathon tradition alive and helping out SB Hacks achieve their goals by offering sponsorships or mentorships to the upcoming hackathon, please visit the SB Hacks website at https://www.sbhacks.com/ or email us at sponsors@sbhacks.com

Written by Diane Phan|Marketing Team Lead

Benefits of a Hackathon

There is an incredible amount of benefits to participating in a hackathon. Here’s a brief list (not written in any particular order):

1. Opportunity to gain new skills, both hard skills and soft skills as well.

In terms of hard skills, participants can further develop technical skills, if not in a new language. With support from Google, Appfolio, and Firebase, you’ll have the chance to work with various API platforms and test out new hardware. Among the long list of soft skills includes communicating productively with your team, marketing your creation attractively to judges, understanding how to meet the needs of real users, and honing your public speaking skills.

2. Meeting amazing mentors that can help you beyond the hackathon.

Here’s a chance for you to grow your network! There’ll be industry professionals onsite and like-minded peers around your age all eager to meet you. Who knows? You might meet someone who’ll become a lifelong mentor or form a new friendship. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s understandably daunting, everyone around might seem like they’re well directed in their own projects without help, but in truth, everyone is learning new things and willing to help one another. All the mentors, organizers, and volunteers are more than happy to lend you a hand. All you have to do is speak up. (:

3. Having fun with friends and other participants.

Organizers have put in a lot of effort to ensure you have a wonderful time at SB Hacks! The schedule offers an abundance of activities open to all, such as workshops, games, and outdoor activities. (Sunrise Walk is my personal favorite!) Make sure you take breaks with your team every few hours. There will be delicious food options to explore, various snacks to plunder, and plenty of caffeinated drinks to keep you woke.

4. FREE SWAG

Free T-shirts, water bottles, stickers, pens, and much more! Take some time to visit different tables set up by various companies. Company recruiters and engineers are eager to meet you, answer questions, and speak at length about what they do. They want to interact with you and fill your curiosity. Don’t be shy!

If you were teetering on the edge between applying and not applying for a hackathon, hopefully this article will have pushed you towards applying. However, if you’re still left hesitant, just remember: at the end of the day, you have nothing to lose. You’ll be learning and applying yourself — and that’s what ultimately matters. Thanks for reading. (:

Keep an eye out for SB Hacks V 2019 applications in the near months! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more news and updates!

Esther Liu|Marketing Coordinator

How we did judging:

Since we had around 80 teams submit a project, there were 2 rounds before proceeding to the finalist stage.

1st Round:

We picked 10 judges to review 8 projects each. They then chose their top 2 from that list of 8.

2nd Round:

After receiving each of the judge’s top 2, we bundled up the 20 projects and had each judge look at 4 of them. We made sure that each set of 4 projects were looked at by exactly 2 judges. Judges then scored the 4 teams.

Finals:

We chose the top 8 based on scores from the 2nd round and had them present for the final round. The final round judges had their own criteria for choosing the 1st and 2nd place team.

Why this works (in theory):

Considering the time constraint we had, our goal wasn’t to choose the best 8 teams to present at the final stage. Imagine a bracket in the first round (group of 8) where the actual 8 best teams are in the same bracket. Though it is unlikely to happen, that means that the 3rd-8th best teams would not qualify to the next round. However, the top 2 teams would proceed all the way to the final stage. By the end of the preliminary rounds, our “finalists” would consist of the best 2 teams and 6 other teams that could be a subset of the top 30 or 40 teams. In reality, the 6 other teams were likely very close to the top 8 teams if they weren’t already.

Why this didn’t work:

For one, we mistakenly placed two teams on the final stage. Neither team made it past the first round, but somehow made it on the final list. Because we announced two teams for the final stage on accident, we ended up having 10 teams present for the final round (top 8 + 2 teams mistakenly put on final stage). Final round judges were notified of the mistake and chose the winners out of the actual top 8.

Our grand prize winner “FlyAI”, whom was also a top 8 finalist, was recently disqualified. The effect of this is that any team that had been grouped with this team, may have been unable to proceed to the next round. For example, if a team was placed 3rd in their bracket, they wouldn’t have moved on. If the disqualified team not been a participant, we would have had different results for the final stage.

Resolution:

We are currently re-evaluating submissions for the grand prize. We cannot simply promote the 2nd place team to 1st, because it would be unfair to teams that weren’t able to advance due to the disqualified 1st place team being in their bracket. We have contacted the teams directly affected by this (those that had placed 2nd or 3rd in the same bracket as the disqualified team but weren’t able to move on). We are allowing teams to submit video pitches to us for the final re-judging. Top 8 team pitches from the closing ceremony were recorded, so it isn’t necessary to submit a video to qualify for the grand prize if you were a top 8 team.

We are also open to video submissions from teams who felt, after reading this post, that they were judged unfairly. We understand that our process wasn’t perfect, but, due to the time constraints, it was the best solution we had. Again, our goal wasn’t to choose the best 8 teams to present as finalists. Instead, we aimed to choose a subset of the (possibly) top 30 teams, with a guarantee that the top 2 teams would proceed to the final round. If you are interested in submitting a video pitch, email team@sbhacks.com. The window to submit this pitch isn’t very long (due by end of Friday), so please inquire before creating one.

Finalists:

Here is a list of the finalists for SB Hacks IV in no particular order. Because there were three teams directly affected by the 1st place team, we now have a “top 10” list. Wish them luck in the re-evaluation process!

• sbhacks-game
• cleanbeats.ai
• flipFlappers
• ScaVision Hunt
• Guitab
• Burman Meeting Solutions
• Pocket Sims
• PathfindAR
• Spherecraft
• Alpha

Closing Statements:

At the end of the day it isn’t about winning or prizes. It’s about walking away having built something, having accomplished something. If you left SB Hacks with something new learned and feeling a little bit more confident in yourself and your ability, then that’s a victory in itself.

We thank you all again for making it to SB Hacks IV last weekend despite the inconvenience the mudslide imposed on traveling here. We also apologize for the hiccup on the judging process and promise to improve upon this for the next year.

We will be posting results of the competition by the end of this week. Thank you for your patience.

— Danny, Co-Director of SB Hacks

Danny and Shreyas are organizers from SB Hacks IV and they hosted a workshop to share their hackathon experiences as participants and winners. So besides free food, free swag, and a weekend full of fun, here are some things that you should do at the hackathon.

Make New Friends

We can’t emphasize this enough! Teams that win hackathons are not necessarily ones that knew each other before the event. Sometimes, having friends on a team can be distracting. Take advantage of our team-formation channel on Slack and introduce yourself by telling us your name, what skills you already know, what project you might want to work on, and what makes YOU awesome!

Planning Time

It takes time to plan projects. It’s okay to spend up to 6 hours figuring out your idea. Think outside of the box and don’t be afraid to look up ideas online. Remember that it’s appropriate to find inspiration, but do NOT copy other projects. Organizers will know.

Learn about APIs

What’s an API? It stands for Application Programming Interface, and it’s basically a tool that companies have built so that hackers like yourself, can integrate into your project. If you’ve never used it before, you should definitely try asking other hackers or mentors about how to use it! Challenge yourself by using an API in your project.

Git Devpost

See what I did there? Git used to Devpost and learn how to use Git. We have a representative from MLH to help you learn how to use Github if you ask them nicely! Devpost is a website where you and your team can submit your projects for judging on the last day.

Interact with Sponsors

We know that not everyone is good at public speaking, but we also know that it takes practice. Take advantage of the the weekend you have with sponsors at the hackathon. Practice pitching your ideas to them, ask them lots of questions, and just speak to them. This will allow you to be more comfortable when you’re presenting to people on the last day, especially if you are participating in one of the sponsors’ challenges! They’ll know your face already and have an idea of what project you were working on all weekend.

Take Advantage of the Mentors

These engineers are literally there all weekend to help you. They were once in your position, they’ve debugged the same problems, and they know exactly what you went through. Ask any question you have and form your network at the hackathon! Who knows, if they remember you enough, they’ll be able to help you out in the future!

Attend Workshops and Activities

Take a break from your code and attend a workshop. You can learn a lot when you’re listening to others or watching demonstrations. Also make time to step outside and breathe. You’re at UC Santa Barbara! There’s a beautiful beach to look at! I mean, how often can you stop coding and turn around to see the beach?

Be Creative

This is especially important if you’re planning to win the hackathon. Not only do you want your project to be functional, you’ll also want to consider the UI/UIX design, and the technical merit. Put into consideration what kind of problems your hack wants to solve. Is it easy or difficult for the user to interact with your project? It is always important to consider every aspect of your project.

All in all, hackathons are meant to be a fun place to learn. Even if you’re not into winning the hackathon, this is the time for you to build your network and expose yourself to different languages, frameworks, APIs, and more. Don’t be afraid to go up to people, mentors, sponsors, or even the organizers, and get to know them. We’re super excited to see all your creative hacks!

The exciting weekend is almost here! In just a few days, you will be embarking on an expedition through the IV Jungle to SB Hacks IV 2018! In order for you all to learn and perform at your absolute best, we want to make sure you can help us make the learning environment as comfortable as possible! That is why we prepared this checklist for you to make sure you packed everything for the event.

1. Student ID card

We want to make sure that you’re a student! If you are taking one of the buses to the event, you will need to show your student ID to your campus ambassador to get on the bus. Everybody will need to show your ID when checking in.

2. Government Issued ID

If you’re interested in renting out hardware from MLH’s Hardware Lab for your projects this weekend, you will need to bring a government issued ID with you.

3. Reusable water bottle

We want you all to stay hydrated during the entire weekend. Although we will be providing drinks, we recommend that you bring your own reusable water bottle so you can fill it up whenever from our water fountain. Let’s stay conscious of our environment!

4. Sleeping bag/blanket, pillow

Sleep is super important! SB Hacks will have a “nap room”, a quiet space separate from the main hacking space for you to catch some ZZZs. We encourage you all to bring your own supplies to make yourself cozy at night. If you’d like a more comfortable setting, you can book a room at a nearby hotel or motel (the Motel 6 in Goleta is on the cheaper side) or the Faculty Club’s Guest House (which is right on campus, near our venue).

5. Extra sweater or jacket

We want to make sure you’re warm during the entire weekend. Please pack accordingly because it can get chilly here at night with the ocean breeze.

6. Umbrella or raincoat

There are some things we cannot control during the event, and that includes the weather. Please check the weather and pack accordingly so that the rain does not stop you from having a great experience at our event.

7. Laptops + Chargers

Don’t forget your gadgets and gizmos, of course! To make sure you maximize your hacking time with your teammates, you need to make sure you installed all the necessary programs, installed Slack on your phone (so you know when food is ready!), and pack away any extra chargers or cables for the event.

8. Hunger for Creative Innovation

Not only will we be feeding you delicious food all weekend, we want you all to bring your hyped and enthusiastic selves to the event to explore different fields of technology. Plus, we’ll have fun activities sprinkled throughout the weekend so you get a taste of Santa Barbara during your visit here :)

We hope this short and easy checklist helps you prepare for our event. If you have anything else to add to our list, please let us know over Slack!