Hack Western stands as one of the largest annual student-led hackathons in Canada, and this year, we're celebrating a monumental milestone - a decade of innovation and camaraderie. Get ready to join us for Hack Western 10, where we're taking inspiration from the essence of overnight camping to create an unforgettable experience, nurturing the spirit of collaboration and the creation of lasting memories.
Just like in previous years, Hack Western 10 will be a platform for hundreds of students to come together and dive into a world of creativity and technology. From November 24th to 26th, 2023, participants will team up, unleash their skills, and bring to life web and mobile projects.
Requirements
Any student who has been ACCEPTED to participate and hack at Hack Western is eligible to submit a project. Your project must follow the Rules outlined for this event - see the Rules tab for more details. Additionally:
- Please add each member of your team to your project
- Provide a short write up of your project, what it does, why you built it - tell us the story behind it!
- (Optional) Attach images, videos, GIFs of your projects
Prizes
First Place Overall
Prize: Sony WH-1000XM5s
Second Place Overall
Prize: JBL Charge 5
Third Place Overall
Prize: Nixplay 10" HD Touch Screen Wi-Fi Digital Frame
Finalist
Organizer's Choice Awards
Prize: Kodak Ektar H35 Half Frame Film Camera
Best Hack using Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Fraud Detection and Tax Compliance, Presented by CRA
Explore the intersection of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to develop solutions that enhance fraud detection, ensure tax compliance, and promote secure financial transactions. Participants will create tools for tracking cryptocurrency transactions, preventing fraud on the blockchain, and automating tax reporting, contributing to a safer and more regulated crypto ecosystem.
Prize:
English: Winners are guaranteed an interview for a student position at CRA and the opportunity for a mentorship session with a Director General at the Information Technology Branch.
French: Les gagnants bénéficieront d’une entrevue pour un poste d’étudiant à l’Agence et auront la possibilité de participer à une séance de mentorat avec un directeur général de la Direction générale de l’informatique
Best use of Infobip SDK, Presented by Infobip
Show us how you would use the Infobip SDK. The SDKs are available in seven lanugages, so you can pick the one you’re most comfortable with. You can be inspired by our Build-a-bot workshop and find out what the best use cases for our tech are. We are looking forward to an array of solutions, so feel free to let your creative juices flow!
Prize:
The winning team will win a mechanical keyboard for each team member!
Best Game Hack, Presented by Big Blue Bubble
Show us how YOU inspire worlds of creativity!
We cannot think of a better prize for the Best Game Hack than each member of the winning team getting a Nintendo Switch Lite.
Prize:
Nintendo Switch Lite - one for each member of the winning team!
Best Health Hack, Presented by Sunlife
Go wild and give the best hack that can improve health!
Prize:
Amazon gift cards
Best Hack to Help Improve Mental Well-being, Presented by Canada Life
As a large employer and a leading provider of group benefits, Canada Life sees firsthand the significant impact of mental health issues: workplaces see increased absences and disabilities, presenteeism and decreased productivity.
We are looking for a hack that anyone can use to uniquely improve their mental well-being. Bonus points for taking advantage of the resources of the Workplace Strategies for Mental Health website (https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/).
Prize:
Fitbit Versa 4 for each member of the team
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. Learn more about the tools and opportunities with Google Cloud by joining the Google Cloud Student Innovators program - goo.gle/student-innovators.
Winners will receive a Google Cloud branded backpack!
Be sure to redeem your Google Cloud Credits as soon as possible through the Google Cloud Credit Form (https://hackp.ac/googlecloudcredits). Use the promo code in your pre-event email to access the form!
Best Use of MongoDB Atlas
MongoDB Atlas takes the leading modern database and makes it accessible in the cloud! Get started with a $50 credit for students (https://hackp.ac/mongodb) or sign up for the Atlas free forever tier (https://hackp.ac/mongodb-free) -no credit card required. Along with a suite of services and functionalities, you'll have everything you need to manage all of your data, and you can get a headstart with free resources from MongoDB University!
Build a hack using MongoDB Atlas for a chance to win a M5GO IoT Starter Kit for you and each member of your team.
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!
The most creative use of Github will win exclusive Github swag!
Best Domain Name from GoDaddy Registry
GoDaddy Registry is giving you everything you need to be the best hacker no matter where you are. Register your domain name with GoDaddy Registry for a chance to win a Hack from Home Kit! Each Kit contains wireless earbuds, blue light glasses, selfie ring light and a pouch for easy transport.
Best DEI Hack sponsored by Fidelity
At Fidelity, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are viewed as major keys to the success of their business, which is why they are challenging you to come up with innovative ways to create forward-thinking financial tech that promotes equality for all people! We want you to use your hacking skills to find and build solutions that put financial opportunities and resources within reach for all communities, creating accessible, sustainable, and/or inclusive solutions.
The team with the best hack will win a Fidelity branded wireless charger for each team member!
Best Use of Circle
With Circle, you can embed secure wallets into your app in just minutes. Circle Web3 wallets are compatible with multiple blockchains and are supported by over a dozen programming language SDKs. Circle’s programmable wallets will enable you to add secure transactions to your hackathon project using RESTful APIs, with options for both user and developer controlled transactions. If your hackathon idea involves in-app purchases, user to user payments, app to user payments, or all of the above, integrating Circle programmable wallets to your Web2 or Web3 tech-stack may be the perfect solution.
Sign up for a developer account (https://hackp.ac/circle-signup) and start using Circle’s APIs today, for a chance to win a Circle Branded Hardware Wallet for you and each of your teammates!
Best Use of Taipy
Taipy is a powerful yet easy to use open-source Python library for creating full stack web applications! If you’re a Python developer, this library enables you to build interactive and dynamic graphical user interfaces and support them with data-driven backends. All of these functionalities are just a "pip install taipy" away and can cut your development time in half!
Use Taipy in your hackathon project for a chance to win a set of Wireless Headphones for you and each of your team members, as well as a chance to have your project featured on the Taipy website!
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
To Be Announced
Judging Criteria
-
Creativity
How creative is this project? -
Technical Difficulty
Simpler and less technical projects (no-code tools and mockups allowed!) will not be penalized -
Demonstrates Learning
Has your team demonstrated growth or a journey to learn a new skill? -
Usefulness
Would this be something that could be used in the real world? Does this solve the problem its trying to solve? -
(Bonus Points) Polish
How is the presentation of the project? Does the team present the project well?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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