Hack Western is one of Canada’s largest student-run hackathons, bringing together hundreds of students from across North America to learn, build, and create something meaningful in just 36 hours.
This year, at Hack Western 12, we’re celebrating creativity in all its forms with our theme:
The world is your canvas.
From November 21-23, 2025, students of all experience levels will come together to design and develop projects across web, mobile, hardware, AI, design, sustainability, and more. Whether you're here to explore a new technology, prototype an idea you’ve been sitting on, or simply meet new people and try something new - this is your space.
We’ll have workshops, mentors, activities, hardware access, sponsor challenges, and plenty of opportunities to learn and connect. All you need to bring is your curiosity and willingness to build.
No matter your background or experience, you belong here - and we can’t wait to see what you create. 🎨🚀
hackwestern.com
Requirements
Any student who has been ACCEPTED to participate and hack at Hack Western is eligible to submit a project. Your project must follow the Rules outlined for this event - see the Rules tab for more details. Additionally:
- Please add each member of your team to your project
- Provide a short write up of your project, what it does, why you built it - tell us the story behind it!
- (Optional) Attach images, videos, GIFs of your projects
Prizes
First Place Overall
Prize: Nintendo Switch 2
MLH Winner Pins
Second Place Overall
Prize: Ninja Creami
MLH Winner Pins
Third Place Overall
Prize: Skullcandy Kilo Wireless Bluetooth Speakers
MLH Winner Pins
Organizer's Choice Awards: Most Creative Impact
Prize: Select LEGO Sets
For the hack that best enables others to create!
*NOTE: HALF of your team must attend at least one sponsor workshop to qualify for this track.
Best Developer Tool by Warp
Prize: Keychron keyboards for each member of the team.
- Build a hack that focuses on improving the developer experience in some meaningful way this could be tackling any part of the development lifecycle (creating, modifying or testing software)!
No API requirements for this prize! You do not need to use Warp.
- As a sidenote, if you're on a Mac/Linux/WSL, we'd love for you to try out Warp as a terminal (warp.dev)! Feel free to send us your feedback in our Slack channel or public GitHub repository! Note that this will have no impact on judging. *
Best Hack to Transform Mass Market Women's Investment Capabilities by Canada Life
Prize: 4 x 4 Pack of Apple AirTags Bluetooth Item Tracker with Belkin Waterproof Secure Holder with Key Rings
According to The Financial Alliance for Women, women’s relationship with wealth continues to be impaired. This is because of a focus on immediacy instead of long-term planning and a lack of connection with financial advisors. Mass market women are underserved by the asset management sector and lack confidence in long-term financial
planning and investment skills. Your task: Create a solution that helps develop mass market women’s investment capabilities. (B2B, B2B2C or B2C)
Best Health Hack by Sun Life
Prize: 4 x $100.00 amazon gift cards
- Based on best hack and creative ideas.
[MLH] Best Use of Gemini API
Prize: Google Swag Kits
It's time to push the boundaries of what's possible with AI using Google Gemini. Check out the Gemini API to build AI-powered apps that make your friends say WHOA. So, what can Gemini do for your hackathon project?
- Understand language like a human and build a chatbot that gives personalized advice
- Analyze info like a supercomputer and create an app that summarizes complex research papers
- Generate creative content like code, scripts, music, and more
Think of the possibilities… what will you build with the Google Gemini API this weekend?
Links:
* https://mlh.link/gemini-quickstart
[MLH] Best Use of Presage
Prize: SenseCAP Watcher & Presage Perks
Presage is pioneering the Human Sensing Layer, enabling any application to understand a person's real-time physical and emotional state. With Presage, you can leverage clinically-proven vital signs, movement, emotion, and/or focus tracking to build a project that gives the standard camera super powers.
Use any of the Presage SDKs to integrate capabilities like real-time heart rate, breathing rate, engagement levels, and facial expressions into your hack with just a few lines of code.
Imagine the possibilities!
- Immersive Gaming & Entertainment: Dynamically change game difficulty, music, or story elements based on a player's real-time excitement or focus levels.
- Contactless Wellness & Fitness: Build a non-invasive app that monitors stress, recovery, or fitness performance without requiring a specialized wearable device.
- Accessibility & Security: Utilize vital signs for advanced, effortless authentication, or to enhance accessibility for specific user groups.
- Productivity: Design a tool that tracks focus or stress in real-time, providing feedback or environmental adjustments to optimize remote work or study sessions.
Build your next hack with Presage and show us the future of human-computer interaction! Best Use of Presage winners will receive SenseCAP Watchers for each team member, along with the following perks from the Presage team:
- A Free design consultation with a Presage application deployment expert
- Free refills for Presage Development credits to accelerate you through your next three months of building
- 30% off all Presage usage charges for your first year after going live
Links:
* https://mlh.link/presage-SDK
* https://mlh.link/presage
[MLH] Best Use of Solana
Prize: SenseCAP Card Tracker
The world of development is evolving fast and Solana is leading the charge with a network built to handle all of your infrastructure needs. Forget high fees and slow confirmations, it's time to build applications that are fast, efficient, and scalable.
Harness Solana's core advantages like blazing fast execution and near-zero transaction costs to make your hackathon ideas become real world projects. With Solana, the possibilities are endless.
- Create a game, social app, or consumer product that relies on instant, high-frequency transactions.
- Design a sophisticated trading, lending, or decentralized exchange (DEX).
- Build a prototype for supply chain, identity, or payments that can handle massive, real-world volume.
Show us how you can innovate with Solana for a chance to win some cool prizes for you and each member of your team!
Links:
* https://mlh.link/solana
[MLH] Best AI Application Built with Cloudflare
Prize: Arduino Kit
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!
Links:
* https://mlh.link/cloudflare
[MLH] Best Use of DigitalOcean Gradient AI
Prize: Retro Wireless Mouse
DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI is a unified AI cloud for building, training, and deploying machine learning models and AI agents. Get access to GPU infrastructure like DigitalOcean GPU Droplets and Bare Metal servers, along with serverless inference and 1-Click Models for instant deployment of your favorite LLMs! Sign up for DigitalOcean today and get $200 worth of free credits that you can use towards building your next Gradient-powered hack. Enable your next project with DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI for a chance to win some great prizes for you and each of your team mates!
Links:
* https://mlh.link/digitalocean-signup
* http://mlh.link/digitalocean
[MLH] Best Use of ElevenLabs
Prize: Wireless Earbuds
Deploy natural, human-sounding audio with ElevenLabs. Create realistic, dynamic, and emotionally expressive voices for any project, from interactive AI companions to narrated stories and voice-enabled apps. ElevenLabs will empower you to build rich, immersive experiences without the need for actors or complex audio production, using simply the power of AI.
Integrate fully autonomous audio experiences into your hack with ElevenLabs and give your project a voice, along with giving your team the chance to win some wireless earbuds!
Links:
* https://mlh.link/elevenlabs
[MLH] Best .Tech Domain Name
Prize: Desktop Microphone + .Tech Domain Name for 10 years!
Make your Team's Achievements timeless: Win a .Tech Domain Name for up to 10 years to Showcase and Expand Your Project, Plus Blue Snowball Mics for Effortless Collaboration on Zoom, empowering you to build even more cool things together!
Links:
* https://get.tech/mlh
Hack with the Best Startup Potential by Morrissette
*OPEN TO WESTERN STUDENTS ONLY*
Automatic interview to the Morrissette Entrepreneurial Summer Internship Program. The winning team will still have to fill out an application form to collect relevant info however they will be automatically given an interview.
Note: there is no guarantee of acceptance into the program.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
To Be Announced
Judging Criteria
-
Innovation & Creativity
How unique or original is the project idea? Does it present a new solution to a problem or use technology in an unexpected way? -
Technical Complexity
How technically challenging is the project? Did the team push the boundaries with complex algorithms, integrations, or hardware? -
Completeness
Does the project work as intended? Are there any major bugs or broken features? -
Design
How user-friendly and visually appealing is the project? Is the interface intuitive and easy to navigate?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Tell your friends
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
