Registration begins for the 2021 Hesburgh Libraries Hackathon. The annual competition challenges teams of Notre Dame undergraduate students to reimagine solutions to everyday problems.
The 2021 theme is Building Connections — teams will develop solutions that leverage technology to discover, visualize or create connections among people, ideas, data and more.
Successful projects, both in the classroom and beyond, often depend on interdisciplinary expertise and cross-functional teams. This annual competition attracts students from diverse academic backgrounds with special talents who come together to share creative ideas, shape and execute projects, and present solutions to a panel of judges and an audience of their peers.
This year’s event will be held virtually via Zoom and Slack over a longer duration of active competition time.
Many aspects of the event have been reorganized to maintain the collaborative team environment and the engaging spirit of competition appreciated by participants during the on-site event. This year, teams will pre-record a video lightning talk to explain their innovative project to the panel of judges during the virtual presentations and awards event on May 1.
“The entire process was beyond phenomenal.”
— 2019 attendee“It was fun coding in a semi-pressured environment with my friends! It was a ton of fun creating an open-ended project not described by some school-based rubric; we could do whatever we want with whatever tools we wanted to use.”
— 2018 attendee
During the event, students identify a challenge or need, design and build an innovative solution, and present their solution to a panel of judges during the virtual presentation and awards event. Teams showcase their projects in pre-recorded video lightning talks, with the top entries garnering awards.
1st Place Team Prize – $3,000
2nd Place Team Prize – $2,000
3rd Place Team Prize – $1,000
Honorable Mention Team Prize (up to 2 awarded) – $500
Visit the Hesburgh Libraries Hackathon website for the full schedule, team information, and tips for success. Grab a team of 2 to 4 friends and sign up.
Need help putting together a team? Meet up with other Hackathon registrants through our #find-a-team Slack channel (an invitation link will be sent after registration). Seats are limited — register today.
Hackathon judges are selected from across campus to bring a wide range of skills and perspectives to the judging process. Judges are provided a rubric where each category has a weighted percentage that will be used to calculate the final score for each team. The 2021 Hesburgh Libraries Hackathon judges are:
Ian Alford – Manager, Enterprise Systems Unit, Hesburgh Libraries
Brandon Rich – Lead Architecture Specialist, IT Strategy, Planning & Architecture
Larita Robinson – Senior Programmer, Hesburgh Libraries
Tim Weninger – Associate Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
Visit the Hesburgh Libraries Hackathon website for more information.