Welcome to H@B
This year, Hack@Brown is an exploration of all that is unknown, free of limitations that weigh us down. We'll provide a home base of help and support, but our hackathon is the start of a mission to discover new technologies and imagine the future as AI accelerates. Get ready to ideate, design, create, and hack!
Takeoff with us!
Requirements
Hacking ends at noon on Sunday, February 4th. Your project must be submitted to the correct tracks on both Devpost and our project submission form by then to be eligible for judging and prizes. Additionally, please ensure that you have selected the opt-in prizes you want to compete for within your Devpost submission, otherwise we will not be able to consider you.
If your project is code-based, we ask that you submit a GitHub link. If not (i.e. Design Track), we ask that you submit a Figma link, wireframe screenshots, or some way for us to see your work. While Devpost will give you some questions to help describe your project, answering these questions is optional and will not be considered during judging.
Shortly after hacking ends, we will assign teams to their judging table number via Discord. Judging will happen completely in-person in a science fair-style format. You’re welcome to walk around and look at other teams’ projects, but make sure at least one member of your team is at your assigned table throughout the entire judging process. You can expect at least two judges (exact number will vary based on which prize track your project is submitted to) to come to your table. Each time a judge comes, you’ll have ~7-9 minutes to demo your project and answer any questions that arise. There’s no need to create a video showing off your project since everything will happen in-person!
Prizes
Best Overall Hack
Awarded to the best overall project submitted to the hackathon
Prizes:
- Apple Watch SE
- Contrary Capital Founder’s Kit and a meeting with their investment team
- 1-year NordVPN, NordPass and Incogni subscription
Best Design Hack
Awarded to the best no-code project prototyped in Figma or another design software
Prize:
- Canon Ivy 2 Mini Photo Printer + Sheets
- Contrary Capital Founder’s Kit and a meeting with their investment team
Best Hardware Hack
Awarded to the best hardware-centric project
Prize:
- HOTO Precision Electric Screwdriver Set
- Contrary Capital Founder’s Kit and a meeting with their investment team
Best Spacey Hack
Awarded to the best space-centric project
Prize:
- JBL Flip 5 Speaker
- Contrary Capital Founder’s Kit and a meeting with their investment team
Best First-Time Hack
Awarded to the best project where all members of the hacking team are attending their first hackathon
Prize:
- Philips 22" Monitor
- Contrary Capital Founder’s Kit and a meeting with their investment team
Best Developer Tool sponsored by Warp
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)! You do not need to use Warp (but we'd love for you to try it, if on Mac - warp.dev).
Prize: Keychron keyboards
Best Use of MongoDB Atlas
MongoDB Atlas takes the leading modern database and makes it accessible in the cloud! Get started with a $50 credit for students or sign up for the Atlas free forever tier (no credit card required). Along with a suite of services and functionalities, you'll have everything you need to manage all of your data, and you can get a headstart with free resources from MongoDB University!
Prize: M5GO IoT Starter Kit
Best DEI Hack sponsored by Fidelity
At Fidelity, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are viewed as major keys to the success of their business, which is why they are challenging you to come up with innovative ways to create forward-thinking financial tech that promotes equality for all people! We want you to use your hacking skills to find and build solutions that put financial opportunities and resources within reach for all communities, creating accessible, sustainable, and/or inclusive solutions. The team with the best hack will win a Fidelity branded wireless charger for each team member!
Prize: Fidelity Branded Wireless Charger
Best Use of Starknet
Starknet is redefining the very notion of Web3 by tackling one of the most intimidating technical challenges in the industry - scaling a blockchain while maintaining its security and decentralization.
Starknet was the first general purpose ZK-Rollup service on Ethereum in Feb. 2022, and has proved its potential to be a market leader. Essentially, it increases the processing speed, while reducing the cost of operating on the Ethereum blockchain.
As a result, we are seeing a variety of “traditional” tech businesses - payments / social media / AI / online gaming - now being integrated with blockchains using our technology.
Moreover, the Starknet community is a growing pool of global talent - from feisty college students to some of the most illustrious PhDs in the world.
Wanna be a part of this growing community? Let’s get you started!
https://book.starknet.io/
https://book.dojoengine.org/
https://www.gizatech.xyz/
Prize: Starknet Care Package for Coders
Best .Tech Domain Name
Make your Team's Achievements timeless: Win a .Tech Domain Name for Life 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!
Prize: Blue Snowball Microphone & a Free .Tech Domain Name for Life!
Best Use of AI in Education by Schmidt Futures
Artificial Intelligence (AI) models, such as large language models (LLMs), are transforming how we interact with computers. During this weekend's hackathon, we want you to apply AI towards improving education to produce tools that support the quality, accessibility, and equitability of learning in today's classrooms. You can use AI to address any challenge teachers and students face, such as curriculum planning, question selection, teacher training, content generation, personalized feedback, automated grading and more.
For this challenge, we encourage you to draw on your own educational experiences and propose technical solutions to problems you've regularly encountered as students — after all, you are the best to know where our education system needs improvement. Design impactful and effective AI tools for education for a chance to win a TickTime Pomodoro Timer!
Prize: TickTime Pomodoro Timer
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Tim Nelson
Professor, Brown Computer Science
Malte Schwarzkopf
Professor, Brown Computer Science
Julia Netter
Professor, Brown Computer Science/Philosophy
John Savage
Professor, Brown Computer Science
Sharvan Kumar
Professor, Brown Engineering
Ranadeep Singh
Software Engineer, StubHub
Raakesh Premkumar
Lead ML Engineer, Home Depot
Carolyn Duby
Field CTO, Cloudera
Donald Stanford
CIO and Technology Fellow, IGT Global Solutions
Lena Renshaw
Software Engineer, Flatiron Health
Poornima Muthukumar
Senior Technical Product Manager, Microsoft
Priyanka Pande
AI/ML Product Manager, Tripadvisor
Apoorv Khandelwal
PhD Candidate, Brown Computer Science
Alexander Gaidis
PhD Candidate, Brown Computer Science
Dafne Zorzetto
Postdoc, Brown Computer Science
Hilarie Sit
Postdoc, Brown Data Science
Nasim Sonboli
Postdoc, Brown Data Science
David Paulius
Postdoc, Brown Computer Science
Judging Criteria
-
Creativity and Originality
Is it an out-of-the-box solution? Do they approach the problem in a unique and creative way? -
Functionality
Does it accomplish its stated goal? Does it work as is, or does it require additional resources? -
Design
Is the design user-friendly—is it intuitive and catered to user's needs? Is the design visually appealing and aligned with the purpose of the project? -
Potential Impact
Does it solve a real problem in society? How many people would it hypothetically help if deployed and released for public use? -
Growth
Did the participants step out of their comfort zone by experimenting with new technologies or approaches? Did the team approach and navigate a notable technical or behavioral challenge? -
Hardware Hack Score
-
Project Spacyness Score
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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