Last fall, Cal Hacks brought together 1,700 hackers from 100 schools and 5 countries to build everything from mind-controlled Teslas to amazing mobile applications. The team that set the record for the world’s largest hackathon is back for round 4, and is ready to bring together the brightest collegiate hackers for 36 hours.
For Cal Hacks 4.0, this October 6-8, we’re building on our tradition of technical excellence by bringing together a more diverse group of hackers and guiding them in creating impactful and innovative projects.
Eligibility
A valid submission is a software or hardware hack produced at Cal Hacks 4.0, from start to finish or created prior to Cal Hacks 4.0 but sufficiently improved at the event.
This includes a ChallengePost submission to Cal Hacks and a demonstration during the Hack Expo on Sunday, October 8th, 2017. Please include a video or photo of the working product.
Remember to include all your team member names, up to 4 people.
Requirements
Be sure to indicate what category you are competing for, as well as if you are doing the continuation project or want to be a part of the Cal Hacks Fellowship program.
Prizes
$172,386 in prizes
Cal Hacks 4.0 Overall 1st Place Prize
DJI Phantom 3 Drones for each team member + $1000 from 1517 Fund
Cal Hacks 4.0 Overall 2nd Place Prize
Nintendo Switches for each team member
Cal Hacks 4.0 Overall 3rd Place Prize
Amazon Echo Spots for each team member
The Cal Hacks Fellowship
(6)
Cal Hacks if offering semester long fellowships to support entrepreneurship and innovation among highly motivated engineering and CS Berkeley students that won at Cal Hacks. Selected teams will be offered capital, mentorship, office space, and various other resources to advance and grow their projects.
$1000 + office space + mentorship + VC connections per selected team (max 6)
Best Continuation Hack
6 Month Spotify Premium Gift Cards
Best Beginner Hack
TOZO Drone Quadcopters
Best Entertainment Hack
Amazon Echo Dots
Best Education Hack
Instax Cameras
Best Health Hack
Fitbit Flex for each team member
Best Mobile App
Amazon Fire 7 Tablets
Best Web App
Logitech MX Anywhere 2S Mouse for each team member
Best VR Hack
NeuroSky MindWave Headsets
Best ML Hack
JBL Flip 3 Bluetooth Speaker
Best Hardware Hack
Raspberry PI Model 3 B Kits
Best Use of Azure or Microsoft Tech
(2)
1st Place: Microsoft Surface Laptops (max 4)
2nd Place: Razor Scooters (max 4)
Amazon Web Services - Best Use of AWS
$250 AWS Credit
Best Use of Expo
Nintendo Switches for everyone on the team
PWC Tech Challenge
1st Place: $100 Gift Card Per Team Member (max 4);
2nd Place: Raspberry Pi 3 Complete Starter Kit;
3rd Place: Amazon Echo Dot (max 4)
Best Use of Sparkpost API
$500 in Amazon or Visa Giftcards
Best Travel Hack (by Concur)
Go Pro Hero Sessions (Max 4)
Best Use of Blackrock API
Drones (max 4)
Best Re-imagination of Markets By Nasdaq
-Internship/full-time job interview
-Trip to Nasdaq HQ (NYC) or Entrepreneurial Center (SF)
-Lunch with senior Nasdaq leader
-Winning team will have their picture on Nasdaq's Times Square screen and will be shared on Nasdaq's social media platforms
WRLD API Prize
Amazon Tap (Alexa-enabled Bluetooth Speaker) (max 4)
T-shirts (max 4)
Cisco-Meraki Prize
(6)
High End Cisco-Meraki Routers
Best Domain Name from Domain.com
Raspberry Pi & PiHut Essential Kit
Best Use of OpenTable API
(2)
$100 OpenTable gift card to each winning team member
Best Finance Hack (by Capital One)
$300 Amazon Gift Cards
Best Use of UnifyID Android SDK
Total Rickall Rick and Morty Card Game and $256 Amazon Gift Card
Best Use of NEC API
Ricoh 360 Cameras
Best Google Cloud Machine Learning API Hack
4 Google Homes, 4 Google Cardboards, and $2500 in GCP credits
Best Google Cloud Platform Hack
4 Google Homes, 4 Google Cardboards, and $1500 in GCP credits
Best Hack using mLab
Potensic Drone
Best Cisco Spark Hack
Bose Headphones for each team member
Confluent API Prize
Apple Beats Pill + Portable Speaker (max 4)
Gnosis API Prize
(3)
1st Place: $3000 GNO or ETH;
2nd Place: $1500;
3rd Place: $500
CONSENSYS
Free tickets to Ethereal SF, the Bay Area's Ethereum Summit.
Battery Pack Prize Sponsored by Facebook
A Facebook Battery Pack
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges

Qasar Younis
YCombinator

Charlie Cheever
Founder Quora/Expo

Amit Kumar
Accel Ventures

Cory Levy
Founder at Internapalooza

Alic Chen
Founder at CITRIS

Danielle Strachman
General Partner at 1517 Fund

Kevin Lee
Principal at Pear Ventures

Caroline Winnett
Executive Director at SkyDeck

Chon Tang
Founding Partner at SkyDeck

Dylan Chiu
Ironfire Ventures

Thomas Jacobson
Ironfire Ventures

Gerald Friedland
Professor at UC Berkeley

Ellen Chisa
Entrepreneur at Ellen and Pauls New Startup

Keshav Dhandhania
CEO at Common Lounge

Cameron Baradar
Investor at The House

Vincent Sun
Investor at The House

John Mannes
Writer at TechCrunch

Blake LaFayette
Director at Free Ventures

Danielle Fujii
Founder at Mad Dog Software

Daniella Wenger
Director at Free Ventures

Grant Empey
Entrepreneur at Dot

Ben Jun
CEO of HFV Labs

Baris Akis
Founder of NavTalent

Priya Rajan
Director at Silicon Valley Bank

Reuben McCreanor
Applied Statistican at Survey Money

Ryan Orbuch
Cofounder at Volley.com

Jade Dominguez
Senior Engineer at Instacart

Joe Nash
Program Coordinator at GitHub Education

Eugene Vinitsky
PhD Researcher at UC Berkeley

Omkar Salpekar
Director at Free Ventures

Pranav Gulati
Director at Free Ventures
Judging Criteria
-
Potential Positive Impact
Is this a product that people will use in their daily lives? Will it make lives better? -
User Interface and Experience
How refined does the app look? Is it smooth? Are there animations and cool image assets? -
Originality and Innovation
Is this project unique and innovative? Is it a solution to a problem we have never seen before? A better way of doing something? -
Technical Difficulty
How difficult was it to implement this project? Are there lots of APIs and libraries and languages involved? Did you use a really cool algorithm?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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