HackPSU is Penn State's student-run hackathon and the largest technology event at Penn State. Join us and hundreds of other students from across the world for 24 hours of innovation, creation, and fun! From seasoned coding veterans to first-time hackers in any major or field, students of all skill levels will find technologically engaging challenges, professional networking, educational resources, and plenty of entertainment throughout our event!

At HackPSU, participants can discover their ability to create change by developing technology to solve real-world problems through collaboration with your peers and industry professionals. They gain new technical skills by attending workshops and taking on challenges. Our games and performances scheduled throughout the event give participants an opportunity to take a break and will be sure to keep them entertained. The whole event is a great way to meet new peers, network with our sponsor companies, and have a total blast!

Please note that attendance at HackPSU is limited to applicants who have applied, been accepted, and RSVP Yes to their invitation.

Requirements

All projects must be submitted by 12:00PM (noon) on Sunday, October 25th. Participants will have until the end of hacking time at 1:45PM on Sunday to continue editing their submissions, but they must be in place by noon to allow time to assign tables at the judging exposition.

Your team must upload a maximum 5 minute video of your project to your Devpost submission. The video should be a short pitch of your project explaining who you are, why you built it, how you implemented it, and what your future plans for it are

All code written for your submission must be attached to this submission (preferably by linking to a public GitHub repository).

All team members must be listed on the submission so that prizes can be awarded accordingly.

To be eligible for prizes, at least one team member must present your project at the judging exposition, but the expo is not the only criterion for judging. The quality of the Devpost submission also plays a large part in our judges' deliberation, so make sure not to neglect it!

Each team is only allowed to submit 1 project.

Projects can be disqualified at the organizers' discretion. Reasons might include but are not limited to breaking the rules, breaking the Code of Conduct, or other unsporting behavior.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$1,500 in prizes

HackPSU Grand Prize

$500 in cash

3 winners

The standard HackPSU experience: work alone or in a team to build something awesome. All monetary prizes will be split among the winning team members equally.

1st Place: $500 cash (1 winner)
2nd Place: $300 cash (1 winner)
3rd Place: $200 cash (1 winner)

Judges

HackPSU Organizers
HackPSU

Judging Criteria

Implementation
Is the project functional and easy to operate for the target demographic? Is the solution viable and effective in addressing the problem statement? Does it reflect the quality of the outcome?
Clarity
Did the team convey their ideas in a way that is understandable to the audience? Is their problem and proposed solution well-stated? How effectively does the team demonstrate the capabilities of their solution?
Creativity
Does the project introduce new ideas? Does it go beyond being an API wrapper? Is the project novel and original? Does it approach a problem from an unusual or different perspective?
Growth
Did the team learn something new? Did they use unfamiliar software or dive into an unfamiliar subject area? Does the team demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter gained during the hackathon?
Impact
What evidence or research supports the existence of the problem being addressed by the project? How does the solution offer a viable, ambitious answer to the identified problem?

ECoRE Building	Invite only
$1,500 in cash	2 participants