Welcome to HackHarvard 2021! This year we are Back From Scratch. Today, our world is aiming to bounce back from COVID-19 and unprecendented hardships. Technology helps facilitate that mission. Sometimes the best ideas come from trying something new and essentially, learning and building from scratch. At HackHarvard, we invite you to let creativity and innovation blossom as you push for progress at the intersection of technology and society.
For more information, check out our website: https://hackharvard.io/
In order to participate and be eligible for prizes, you must have applied through our Typeform and have received an acceptance/confirmation email from us.
All submission are due 11AM ET, SUNDAY OCTOBER 10TH.
TRACKS
Submit to 1 of our 4 tracks for a chance to win track-specific prizes! This year, our tracks are sustainability, social justice, education, and healthcare. It is not a requirement to submit to a track. You are welcome to create a project on anything you wish.
Sustainability
The importance of sustainability in the realms of public service, business, and activism continues to grow. Projects in this track aim to embody this ideal, utilizing concepts including but not limited to green technology and net zero carbon emission goals.
Social Justice
The world is far from the ideal of universal equality. Discrimination, hate, and systemic oppression still impact many groups in society. Projects in this track use computer science to help empower these groups.
Education
The pandemic has left lasting changes on education, showing that the potential of technology’s role in education is just beginning to be realized. Projects in this track may restructure or rethink online learning, encourage time management, alleviate the issue of tech availability, or help educators navigate the online education realm.
Healthcare
As the world slowly heals from the pandemic, systemic issues in healthcare are becoming more and more apparent. Projects in this track address public health and policy issues such as the lack of affordable healthcare, mental health, and efficient vaccine distribution.
Requirements
- You must submit a link to a public GitHub repo that was created during the dates of Oct 8-10.
- You must either submit a link to your video demoing your project under 2 minutes or live demo your project in our judging space on Gather.
- You must select the appropriate tracks and prizes your project is competing for. For example, if you create a sustainability related project, you must select the "Sustainability" category upon submission in order to be eligible to win the sustainability track prize.
Prizes
$8,990 in prizes
1st Best Overall Hack
The best overall hack submitted to HackHarvard 2021. Not only is it novel, interesting, and useful, but it is also technically sound and exciting to many. Each member of the winning team will receive the choice of one of the following: Nintendo Switch, Oculus Quest 2 128 GB, or $300 Amazon Gift Card
2nd Best Overall Hack
Each member of the winning team will receive the choice of one of the following: 27 Inch Sceptre HD Monitor or $200 Amazon Gift Card.
3rd Best Overall Hack
Each member of the winning team will receive the choice of one of the following: Bose SoundLink Mini II Special Edition or $175 Amazon Gift Card.
Best Sustainability Hack
Each member of the winning team will receive the choice of one of the following: 4th Generation Echo Dot or $75 Amazon Gift Card. In addition, Leading Learners is sponsoring Expansion Packs (worth $100) for the winning team project. Expansion Packs focus on thoroughly explaining 15 ways for student winners to completely focus on the idea's growth, innovation, and expansion of their projects.
Best Social Justice Hack
Each member of the winning team will receive the choice of one of the following: 4th Generation Echo Dot or $75 Amazon Gift Card. In addition, Leading Learners is sponsoring Expansion Packs (worth $100) for the winning team project. Expansion Packs focus on thoroughly explaining 15 ways for student winners to completely focus on the idea's growth, innovation, and expansion of their projects.
Best Healthcare Hack
Each member of the winning team will receive the choice of one of the following: Sony MDR7506 Headphones or $75 Amazon Gift Card. In addition, Leading Learners is sponsoring Expansion Packs (worth $100) for the winning team project. Expansion Packs focus on thoroughly explaining 15 ways for student winners to completely focus on the idea's growth, innovation, and expansion of their projects.
Best Education Hack
Each member of the winning team will receive the choice of one of the following: Fujifilm Instax Camera or $75 Amazon Gift Card. In addition, Leading Learners is sponsoring an Edtech Resource Bundle (worth $100) for the winning team project. This bundle Bundle includes Pitch Preparation Tips, Problem-Solving Tips, EdTech Sector Benefits, and Team Leadership Tips for your student awardees to be able to successfully launch their EdTech projects and scale them for something larger.
Best First-Time Hack
(2)
Each member of the winning team will receive the choice of one of the following: 4th Generation Echo Dot or $75 Amazon Gift Card. In order to be eligible for this prize, all members of the team must be first-time hackathon attendees.
Most Useless Hack
Each member of the winning team will receive a Useless Box.
Most Funny Hack
Each member of the winning team will receive a 16 inch tall Squeezing Squawkin' Rubber Chicken and a personalized joke from HackHarvard's best comedians.
Best Budgeting Prize by Fizz
For our generation, the importance of managing personal finances is underscored by growing up during the 2008 financial crisis. Macroeconomics aside, many of us learned nothing about managing money from our parents. Awarded teams embody financial empowerment, by rethinking how to work budgeting and financial literacy tips into everyday behavior. Winner will receive airpods, a Fizz internship opportunity, and 1:1 YC Combinator application coaching.
The Best Use of AssemblyAI API
Build a meaningful project that uses AssemblyAI API effectively. Each member of the winning team will receive a $100 Amazon Gift Card. To get started using AssemblyAI's API, check out https://assemblyai.notion.site/AssemblyAI-Hackathon-Quickstart-76cf5c07aeff4f06ba9ac193899c0a4b
The Best Hack to Build Community and Bring the World Closer Together by Facebook
At Facebook, our products empower more than 3 billion people around the world to share ideas, offer support and make a difference. This year's challenge is tied directly to our mission to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Winner will receive a Facebook Portal.
Best Use of Google Cloud
Build your hackathon project with a suite of secure storage, powerful compute, and integrated data analytics products provided by Google Cloud. See full list of products here: g.co/cloud. Each winning team member located in the US will receive a Google Cloud Swag Bag complete with a beanie, pillow, journal, socks and lanyards. International winners will receive a Google branded backpack.
Most Creative Use of Twilio
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 Domain Name from Domain.com
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 Hardware Hack Sponsored by Digi-Key
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!
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Jennifer Guo
Director, HackHarvard
Eric Zhang
Software Engineer / Convex, Inc.
Akanksha Singh
Founder / Sisgrammers
Alexa Spagnola
Dorm Room Fund / UPenn
Gabriella Angiolillo
Master's in CS / Columbia University
Pavel Shibayev
President, Co-Founder / Physics Unlimited (non-profit)
Shubhangi Gupta
Founder / Raahee
Anurag Bihani
Cloud Software Engineer / Schlumberger
Vishakha Agrawal
Student / Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering
Albert Lie
Ex-Founding Engineer & Tech Lead / Xendit (YC S15)
Avi Gulati
Student / Harvard College
Iliriana Kaçaniku
Senior Director, Open Innovation & Strategy / Kaptivate
Constance Xu
Student / Stevens Institute of Technology
Kasey Zhang
Investment Analyst / Glasswing Ventures
Sofia Perez Casillas
Student / Harvard College
Pratham Mehta
Student / Georgia Institute of Technology
Shivom Dhamija
Student / Georgia Institute of Technology
Vitali Honcharuk
Senior Software Engineer / Monster Lead Group
David Yong
Head of Engineering / cord
Felix Chen
Founder / Volunteer Nexus, Inc.
Sai Gurrapu
Founder / Wonderly
Fedor Yaremenko
Senior Software Engineer / Ultimeta
Judging Criteria
-
Creativity
-
Depth
-
Design
-
Potential
-
Presentation/Demo
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Tell your friends
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.