What is a hackathon?

A hackathon is a problem-solving speed run for programmers of any skill level to try their hand at creating something new. While the duration varies from event to event, the challenge remains constant: starting with nothing but a computer and a vision, what can you build and how might it change the world?

Why UGAHacks 7?

Since its inception in 2015, UGAHacks has grown to become the premier programming sleepover event in the Southeast. Host to 600+ attendees and 14+ sponsors, UGAHacks offers students from all over the country the chance to test their limits and realize their dreams. Whether that be through designing a novel software solution, landing an internship with a sponsor, gaining new skills in a workshop, or meeting like-minded individuals that turn into friends for life, UGAHacks has something to offer everyone - novice and expert alike.

Sponsor List

Requirements

NCR rubric

 

NCR’s message:

  • NCR APIs: We’ve brought our APIs for use in your hacks! (https://hackathon.ncrcloud.com) Utilizing our APIs is not required to submit to our challenges, but it’s certainly a great way to stand out. 
  • If you need help using our APIs, please reach out on NCR’s Slack channel.
  • Submitting: When it’s time to submit your project, make sure you indicate the challenge(s) you would like to be considered for on Devpost. We will be using the Devpost submissions to create the demo/judging schedule.
  • Judging: Regarding judging, on Sunday morning we will send out a “demo schedule”. This schedule will contain time slots, room numbers, and Hopin links for your team to present to our panels of judges. You may present either in-person OR virtually for our judges.
  • Demos: Your presentation should last 3-5 (max) minutes and should include an explanation of the problem you are solving and a demo of your solution. Please see our rubric on Devpost for details on what we are looking for

 

BlackRock:

  • Final product should be fully functional with feature working
  • Final product should have a name
  • Final product can be an app/webpage/model etc.
  • Final product caters to needs of individual investors who are new to sustainable investing with desire to have either short-term or long-term return

Judging Criteria

  • Functioning of the prodcut
  • Number of different features
  • User-centered design
  • Data visualization 
  • Clear target audience
  • Use of data and/or API
  • Different products cater to each ESG factor (environmental, social, and governance)
  • Needs of individual investors are met
  • Foremost, your creativity

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$2,250 in prizes

Best Overall

Medal

Best Solo

Medal

Best First Time Hacker (2)

Medal

Best Hardware

Medal

NCR - Data Science (2)

Full challenge descriptions at: hackathon.ncrcloud.com

Prize: Apple watches, ipads, airpods, trezors, jbl sound systems, oculus quest 2s

NCR - Eliminate the Friction (2)

Full challenge descriptions at: hackathon.ncrcloud.com

Prize: Apple watches, ipads, airpods, trezors, jbl sound systems, oculus quest 2s

NCR - Blockchain Tech (2)

Full challenge descriptions at: hackathon.ncrcloud.com

Prize: Apple watches, ipads, airpods, trezors, jbl sound systems, oculus quest 2s

NCR - Retail Gamification (2)

Full challenge descriptions at: hackathon.ncrcloud.com

Prize: Apple watches, ipads, airpods, trezors, jbl sound systems, oculus quest 2s

BlackRock (3)

Challenge:
Since January 2019, BlackRock has committed to sustainable investing with a statement "climate risk is investment risk." When the pandemic swept the globe in 2020, despite the consensus that sustainable investing would not longer be attractive, investment in ESG products has increased by more than 98% over the whole of 2019 in 2020

Prize:
Amazon gift card, backpacks, jackets, water bottles and other miscellaneous items

TSYS (2)

Challenge:
In an era in which privacy is of great importance and people are becoming distrustful of centralized solutions, what can be done? Enter Web 3.0.

The Web 1.0 era of the Internet from 1991 to 2004 was mostly static pages read-only. This was similar to wikipedia's interlinked static pages. Internet users went to the internet to get information.

From 2004 to the present day, Web 2.0 has grown rapidly. Web 2.0 has made it possible for users to have an interactive experience. We pulled information from the web pages and sent information from us to serve us related content and keep us longer. Aggregated user information was also salable to marketing agencies. This gave rise to targeted advertising and a lack of privacy.

As we are still in the very early stages of the development of Web 3.0, there is no official definition. The objective of Web 3.0 is to enable users to won't heir content through blockchain technology and decentralized tools. Theoretically, users are in complete control of their data. Digital identity is not entirely connected.

Considering Web 3.0 is still relatively new, expecting life-changing innovations all at once is not practical. To create a series of ideas that grow together, engineers will have to think outside the box.

We encourage all the participants to build any applications they want related to the financial & payment industry in the next 24 hours and a bonus would be to align it with Web 3.0.

Prize:
Oculus quest2

Figma + UGAHacks

The challenge is around best design or UI/UX.

Prize: $50 for http://store.figma.com/

[MLH] Best Use of DeSo

DeSo is the official Web3 sponsor of the MLH Hackathon League and the first Layer 1 blockchain custom-built for decentralized social media applications. While blockchains like Avalanche or Solana cost $0.50+ to store just a 200-character post, the DeSo blockchain is built with custom indexing and storage optimizations which make it 10,000X cheaper to store social content on-chain! In order to qualify for the contest, you must launch an app that writes to the DeSo blockchain and 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. The Best Use of DeSo gets $100 worth of $DESO coin & an exclusive DeSo branded tumbler!

[MLH] Best Usage of CI/CD sponsored by CircleCI

Have you ever wondered how professional developers from companies like Peloton & Samsung collaborate and ship code to production? For one, they use continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) platforms like CircleCI to help automate testing, versioning, deployment and so much more. Whether you’re looking to learn a new skill, practice coding, or hack with friends, CircleCI can help you to utilize the best development practices possible when approaching a new project, however big or small. Use CircleCI in your next hack for a chance to win some awesome CircleCI swag, including a branded mug, beanie, socks and stickers!

[MLH] 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 a web service API. Are you building an e-commerce website and want to send text notifications or email confirmations once an order is completed? Or maybe you'd like to verify users based on their mobile numbers? Twilio makes all this possible and more. Build a hack that simplifies your life using any Twilio API for a chance to win some awesome prizes! Get started with $50 in free credit!

[MLH] Best Domain Name from Domain.com

Register a free .tech domain name using Domain.com for your chance to win an amazing prize. Remember, the more creative the domain the better!

[MLH] Most Creative Use of GitHub

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 Most Creative 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!

[MLH] 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.

Capital One - Best Financial Hack

We will be responsible for judging this and will award Amazon gift cards ($250/member) to each winning team member.

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Byte

Byte
UGAHacks

Judging Criteria

  • Technology
    How technically impressive is the project? Did the project use a clever technique or use many components? Did it make you go “wow”?
  • Impact
    How important is this project to the target audience? Will it solve a common problem?
  • Creativity
    Is this idea new and interesting? Has anything similar to this project been developed before?
  • Learning
    What did they learn from this? Did they learn a lot of new topics (maybe even soft skills)? This will be more of a question based category rather than observing their work.
  • Design
    Is the design and use of this project intuitive? Is there a learning curve to using it or were you able to understand it at a glance? Does the project have a unique look at feel to it?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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