Highlights
- We hosted the 2021's largest hackathon for high schoolers (with 335 participants!) — Hack3 2021! We have the experience to run mega-events.
- Our sponsors this year include Xylem, Github, Amazon, and Slack! We have 14 sponsors this year, more than any previous year. Previous sponsors include NetApp and Postman. We have the financial backing to make magic happen.
- Our keynote speaker founded Chord, a company that raised a $625k pre-seed round from the NEO Accelerator (which includes $500k at a $20 million floor valuation!) Who better to speak about hackathons than a person turning a project into a real company!
- We're running a free Intro to Computer Science and Hackathons course for beginners! Are you a beginner? We're here to help you hone your coding skills so you can have a great experience!
- Jam-packed schedule with workshops led by Amazon employees! Learn from the best.
- Free DoorDash food for US-based participants whose families make less than $50k/year OR families who make more but live in areas with high living costs. Learn more. Equal opportunity for everyone to succeed!
- We're expecting 300+ participants. We want to be the event for high school students this year. Come join us :)
Our Mission
Hack3 is a global online hackathon that aims to enable high school students to learn computer science, with a broader message of "everyone can code" to target underrepresented demographics to improve diversity and inclusion of individuals in the computer technology space.
COVID-19’s effects have revealed great wealth inequalities in communities. More than ever, marginalized and impoverished communities need opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty.
At Hack3, we believe that providing educational opportunities to learn computer science, one of the highest paying job sectors, is the solution.
We hope that by bringing students of all backgrounds together, we will be able to foster innovation, creativity, and create new lifelong friendships for hackers.
In 2020, we connected 275 participants of all skill levels, to build novel projects that positively impacted the world. In 2021, we hosted over 335 participants. Last year, over 150 attended our free classes led by industry professionals to learn new skills. Over twenty mentors staffed our helpdesk to help participants when they needed help. Our judges, mentors, and workshop instructors have been affiliated with the likes of Stanford, Harvard, Amazon, NetApp, and Wikipedia. This year, with the support of Major League Hacking, we will elevate our performance to provide an even better experience for all.
Free class for beginners!
To better help our beginner hackers, two of our organizers, Jonathan Lei and Eric Sun, will be running an Intro to Computer Science course from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT Monday through Friday. They're developing the course with help from Helm Learning, a nonprofit that has taught nearly 4k students computer science classes during the pandemic. They're also borrowing content from Major League Hacking's Localhost program. Learn about how to make the most of Hack3 from the organizers of it! It's designed to teach entry-level participants everything they need to get started! Computer science basics, APIs, databases, etc. We'll be posting recordings online, so feel free to watch those too if your schedule doesn't work.
Hack... 3! Hack... 3! Hack... 3!
With the lessons learned from two years of running Hack3, we aim to host an even better hackathon this year. Happy hacking, and we hope Hack3 is a memorable starting point to your computer science journey! Register today!
Requirements
A valid submission is a software or hardware project fully produced only during the Hack3 hackathon, from start to finish. There are no limitations or guidelines to the project's concept. Projects may be submitted to other competitions as long as the participant only worked on the project during the Hack3 timeframe.
WE ALLOW CROSS SUBMISSIONS ONLY IF THE PROJECT WAS STARTED AFTER THE START OF HACK3 AND ENDED BEFORE THE END OF HACK3.
Remember to include all your team member's names, up to 4 people.
Your Devpost submission will be posted on our "Submissions" tab, where others will be able to post feedback.
Prizes
$53,700 in prizes
Prizes paid in cryptocurrency
First Place Prize
1. Amazon Fire Tablet for each participant
2. $250 in Cash
3. A Hack3-Exclusive NFT to the team
Second Place Prize
1. Raspberry Pi Pico Kit for each participant
2. $100 for the team
3. A Hack3-Exclusive NFT to the team
Third Place Prize
1. KALINCO Smart Watch for each participant
2. $50 from Xylem
3. A Hack3-Exclusive NFT to the team
Sci-Fi Track Winner
Must create a project that you would find in a science-fiction movie or is something really really cool!
1. $25 gift card to a company of their choice for each participant
2. A Hack3-Exclusive NFT to the team
"Depth" Track Winner
Must create a project that creatively interprets the word "depth" in some way.
1. $25 gift card to a company of their choice for each participant
2. A Hack3-Exclusive NFT to the team
Water Track Winner
Must solve a water-related issue that centers around our challenge statements (see the opening ceremony for challenge statements). Sponsored by Xylem
1. A spot in Xylem's incubator program
2. A Hack3-Exclusive NFT to the team
Best Beginner Project
1. $100 donation to charity of their choice
2. $1.5k credits for KTBYTE classes
3. A Hack3-Exclusive NFT to the team
Your team must have at least one person for whom Hack3 is their first hackathon :)
Most Creative Use of Github
GitHub Octocat Puzzle & Sticker bundle
GitHub is one of the best ways to collaborate, push code, get feedback, and show the world what you’ve built during a hackathon. To take it a step further, GitHub is now offering you access to industry tools, events & learning resources through something called GitHub Global Campus. Win this weekend’s Best Use of GitHub prize category, first by signing up for GitHub Global Campus and second by using a GitHub repository to host your hackathon project’s code! Make sure your use of GitHub stands out with a detailed ReadMe page, meaningful pull requests and collaboration history, and even a GitHub pages deployment!
Most Creative Use of Twilio
Twilio Swag Box
GameGo Console
Twilio allows you to incorporate mobile messaging, phone calls and a ton of other awesome communication features right into your hackathon project using web service APIs. Are you building an e-commerce website and want to send text notifications or email confirmations once an order is completed? Or maybe your application needs to verify users based on their mobile numbers? Twilio makes all this possible and more. Build a hack that simplifies your life using any one of Twilio’s APIs for a chance to win a Twilio Swag Box and GameGo Console for you and each of your teammates!
Best Hardware Hack by Digi-Key
Grove Beginner Kit
Using your preferred hardware or hardware emulator, build a hack for your chance to win a Grove Beginner Kit, with embedded Arduino Uno compatible board. Each winning team member will receive a prize!
Best Domain Name from Domain.com
PowerSquare Qi Wireless Phone Charger
Register a .tech domain name using Domain.com during the weekend. Each team may submit one entry per person on the team. Each winning team member will receive a PowerSquare Qi wireless phone charger.
Best Use of MATLAB
MathWorks Swag Bag
MATLAB and Simulink are computation tools used at more than 5,000 institutions worldwide. Use their software in your next hack to win some exclusive MathWorks swag including a MathWorks branded cinch bag, pair of socks, baseball cap, stylus pen & deck of cards! You can also claim a free MATLAB software license to get started.
Best Use of DeSo
$100 worth of $DESO coin, an exclusive DeSo Tumbler & a Yubikey secuity key
You must launch an app that writes to the DeSo blockchain and/or implements DeSo identity. While social media apps are a great fit for DeSo, you can also build financial apps, marketplaces, and more on the DeSo blockchain. For inspiration on project ideas, you can check out some of the existing 200+ apps already live on DeSo at Bithunt.com as well as our DeSo APIs.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Hamsalekha Venkatesh
Redfin
Tanuj Tiwari
Founder of Livetrucks, YC Summer 22
Rahul Sonwalkar
Founder of LiveTrucks (ex-Uber, Facebook)
Timofey Krestyanov
Sberbank
Roman Khaitov
JSC Tander (Magnit)
Naman Badkul
Nagarro
Ozan Ozbeker
Xylem, Inc.
Taras Baranyuk
Bidease
Eric Sheen
SkyWatch
Victor Cao
Futurewei Technologies
Anton Yarkov
Access Softek Inc.
Matthew Alfieri
Xylem
Fedor Yaremenko
Ultimeta
Pruthvi Shetty
Antstack Inc
Judging Criteria
-
Technology and Functionality
Does the project work? Did the project use creative code concepts, or just copy API’s? How technically impressive was the project? Did the project use any clever ideas or methods? -
Creativity and Originality
How creative is the solution to solving the problem? Have you seen other solutions similar to this one? -
Civic Need
Do people need to use this project? Will this project benefit the people specified in the track? Is this project something you could see being implemented in the future? -
The “Cool” Factor
How “geeky” is the project? How sophisticated was the solution in solving the problem? -
Teamwork & Project Presentation
Did the team’s presentation effectively convey their project? How well did the team present? Were all members of the team involved?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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