We hope that Pearl Hacks will help women and gender non-conforming individuals of all skill levels realize their true value within tech, invigorate their educational journeys, and inspire one another to continue dreaming and achieving amazing things.
Requirements
- Max 4 people per team
- Original code/work
- Boilerplate code may be used, but you must cite your source(s)
- Eligible sources consist of code from open-source tutorials and code given to hackers through sponsor workshops
- All code and/or other materials must have been written or produced within the time frame of the hacking period
- Boilerplate code may be used, but you must cite your source(s)
- No cross-hackathon submissions allowed
- You may not submit your Pearl Hacks project to another hackathon, or vice versa!
- Late submissions will not be considered for prize judging, but may still be demo-ed at the fair
Prizes
First Place Pearl Hacks Prize
Each teammate gets the choice between a Nintendo Switch Lite or a FitBit Versa 4.
Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Second Place Pearl Hacks Prize
Each teammate gets the choice between a JBL Flip 6 Speaker or an Epomaker Keyboard.
Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Third Place Pearl Hacks Prize
Each teammate gets the choice between an Amazon Echo Dot or a Rocketbook.
Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Beginner Track Pearl Hacks Prize
To be eligible to win this prize, the project submitted must fit within the Pearl Hacks beginner track project structure. Winners of this prize will receive a 2025 Pearl Hacks Director Hat for each team member.
Qorvo Track: 1st Place
Qorvo recognizes the importance of collaboration to foster improvement and innovation. We are seeking a hack that helps to foster real-time campus and/or workplace collaboration, enabling users to find subject matter experts, mentors, or compatible collaborators to work with. The winners of the Qorvo track will receive Bose QuietComfort Noise Cancelling Headphones!
Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Qorvo Track: 2nd Place
Qorvo recognizes the importance of collaboration to foster improvement and innovation. We are seeking a hack that helps to foster real-time campus and/or workplace collaboration, enabling users to find subject matter experts, mentors, or compatible collaborators to work with. Runner-up will receive Fujifilm Instax Mini EVO Instant Camera kits!
Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Genesys: Best Hack for Improving Customer Experience
We are looking for the best hack that improves CX! We will be looking for as much completion as possible, easy to follow UI, and usage of tech stacks that you use to create your project. The sky is the limit, be creative in your approach! The winning team will receive Genesys swag.
Pearson: Lifelong Learner Prize
Seeking hackers who have shown exceptional learning throughout the hackathon and beyond. This prize celebrates those who embody Pearson's purpose of lifelong learning. Show us how you've grown, adapted, and expanded your knowledge during this event. The winning team will receive a Pearson gift bundle!
CoStar Group: Best Real Estate Hack
CoStar Group swag bag and $100 Amazon gift card for each winning team member for Best Real Estate Hack.
Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Capital One: Best Financial Hack - 1st Place
How will you reimagine banking? The first place team will receive $250 Amazon gift cards for each team member. Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Captial One: Best Financial Hack - 2nd Place
How will you reimagine banking? The second place team will receive $125 Amazon gift cards for each team member. Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Bandwidth: Best Communications & Community Hack
We are looking for creative hacks that involve communication and ways to connect with others within your academic community. We are not just simply looking for a chatbot or messaging feature within your hack – but more specifically a hack that involves unique ways to bring people together or start a conversation. Our judges will be specifically looking for creativity and out of the box thinking in regards to communication and the academic community aspect. If possible we would love to see hacks that are new and fresh - not just revamped from current apps over services. The winning team will win a Bandwidth swag bag and a $100 Amazon gift card.
Cash value is estimated cost of prizes.
Infosys Foundation USA: Best Use of AI
Infosys is on the cutting-edge of leveraging Generative AI. Develop a RAG-based intelligent smart knowledge assistant that could be used in healthcare, legal, or customer support. Solutions should use the agentic framework and should be capable of autonomously retrieving updated and contextually relevant information from multiple sources and generate concise, accurate responses. Each member of the winning team will receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card.
MLH – Best AI Application Built with Cloudflare
Cloudflare is one of the world’s largest networks enabling hackers like you to build, deploy, and deliver trusted applications, no matter where you are! With Cloudflare, you’ll have all the building blocks to create a full-stack application; from C3 (create Cloudflare command line) instance deployment to object storage. You can even run GenAI (LLMs, text to image, Voice to text etc..) in the cloud and leverage your AI functionality via API requests using Cloudlfare’s Workers AI! Enjoy Cloudflare’s generous free tier to get started at no cost! This weekend, we want you to build an AI Application utilizing Cloudflare’s numerous services for a chance to win Arduino Kits for you and your team.
MLH – Best Use of Streamlit
Want to take your Python skills to the next level? Streamlit is an open-source Python library that makes it easy to share and build custom web apps for machine learning, data science, and more. Instead of writing Python scripts without a UI, you can create a beautiful web app, complete with widgets and data visualizations, and deploy it for free to the Streamlit Community Cloud. You can even build a fully functional LLM-powered app with just 25 lines of code! Hack with Streamlit this weekend for your chance to win an Arduino Kit for you and each member of your team.
MLH – Best .Tech Domain Name
Make your Team's Achievements timeless: Win a .Tech Domain Name for up to 10 years to Showcase and Expand Your Project, Plus 4 Blue Snowball Mics for Effortless Collaboration on Zoom, empowering you to build even more cool things together!
MLH – Best Use of Gen AI
Generative AI is rapidly changing the landscape of software development. This category challenges you to build novel applications that leverage the power of Generative AI APIs. Think outside the box and integrate cutting-edge AI models to create innovative solutions with real-world impact. To participate, utilize publicly available Generative AI APIs (like those from OpenAI, Anthropic, Hugging Face, Llama, IBM Watson, or Google Gemini) to develop a unique and functional application. This is your chance to get hands on with cutting edge tech, put your skills on display, and of course, win some awesome prizes!
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Pearl Hacks
Pearl Hacks
Judging Criteria
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Basic Submission Eligibility
Submission teams must be 1-4 people. All code submitted for judging must have been written during the hackathon.
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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