Why HackSMU?

THIS IS AN IN-PERSON HACKATHON

Join us on April 11-12, 2026, at Southern Methodist University for HackSMU VII, a 24-hour hackathon where innovation and creativity converge. Open to students of all backgrounds and skill levels, this event features diverse tracks like AI, UI/UX, First-Time Hackers, and sustainability. You'll solve real-world challenges, participate in workshops, and receive guidance from experienced mentors.

Connect with industry professionals, recruiters, and fellow hackers while competing for exciting prizes. Enjoy a fun and engaging experience with mini-games, free swag, and meals to keep you energized. Don’t miss this opportunity to push your boundaries and make lasting connections. Register now and be part of HackSMU VI!.

More information at https://hacksmu.org

Schedule

Saturday, April 11, 2026

  • 9 AM-11 AM  - Hacker Check-In
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, 1st Floor (Entryway)
  • 9 AM-11 AM  - Sponsor Tabling
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, 220 BC (Open Walls)
  • 11 AM-11:50 AM  - Opening Ceremony
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Oren Family Auditorium
  • 11:50 AM-12 PM  - Team Building
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Oren Family Auditorium
  • 12 PM  - Hacking Begins
  • 1 PM-2 PM  - Lunch
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Atrium
  • 2:30 PM-3:30 PM  - Workshop: Shaping the Future of Water with Modular Pumping Solutions w/ Grundfos
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Chamber
  • 4 PM-5 PM  - Online Workshop: Voices of the Wild: Understanding Elephant Communication w/ ElephantVoices
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Chamber
  • 5:30 PM-6:30 PM  - Workshop: Digital Infrastructure Workforce Panel w/ Infrastructure Masons
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Chamber
  • 7 PM-8 PM  - Dinner
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Atrium
  • 8:30 PM-9:30 PM  - Event: MS Paint Bob Ross w/ Major League Hacking
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Chamber
  • 10 PM-11 PM  - Event w/ Major League Hacking
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Chamber

Sunday, April 12, 2026

  • 9 AM-10 AM  - Breakfast
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Atrium
  • 11 AM  - Submission Deadline 1-Hour Warning
  • 12 PM  - Hacking Ends
  • 12 PM-1 PM  - Lunch
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Atrium
  • 1 PM-3:30 PM  - Judging
    • Location: James M. Collins Executive Education Center, Commons
  • 3:30 PM-4:20 PM  - Judging Deliberation
    • Location:James M. Collins Executive Education Center
  • 4:30 PM-5:20 PM  - Closing Ceremony
    • Location: Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Oren Family Auditorium

Requirements

Submissions must include a link to the repository of your project, preferably on GitHub. List the challenges and tracks your project fulfills in the description. You can have multiple tracks and challenges listed in your project, given your project fulfils the requirements of multiple tracks.

Challenges

Best Use of AI

Best UI/UX Design

Best First-Time Hacker (at least 1 team member is a first time hackathon participant)

MLH Challenges

Best Use of Gemini API

⭐ Google Swag Kits ⭐

 

Best Use of ElevenLabs

 

⭐ Wireless Earbuds ⭐

 

Best Use of Solana

 

⭐ Ledger Nano S Plus ⭐

 

Best Use of Auth0 AI Agents

 

⭐ Wireless Headphones ⭐

 

Best Use of DigitalOcean

 

⭐ Retro Wireless Mouse ⭐

 

Best Use of Auth0

 

⭐ Wireless Headphones ⭐

Tracks

General Track - Overall 1st, 2nd and 3rd (Everyone is automatically in the running for this)

iMasons Track

Grundfos Track

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

15 non-cash prizes
iMasons
2 winners

1st Place: Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) glasses
2nd Place: Apple Watch SE 3

Grundfos
2 winners

1st Place: Xbox Series S (512 GB)
2nd Place: Switch 32GB Lite - Nintendo Switch Lite

Overall 1st Place
1 winner

iPad Wi-Fi 128GB

Overall 2nd Place
1 winner

Roku - 40" Class Select Series Full HD (1080p) LED Smart RokuTV (2026)

Overall 3rd Place
1 winner

Apple - AirPods 4

Best Use of AI
1 winner

Backbone - One - PlayStation & Xbox Edition (Lightning) - Mobile Gaming Controller for iPhone

Most Innovative Idea
1 winner

JBL - Go 4 Portable Bluetooth Speaker - 2024 - Black

Best UI/UX Design
1 winner

Roku - Streaming Stick Plus 2025 - 4K & HDR Streaming Device for TV with Voice Remote - Black

Best First-Time Hackers
1 winner

JBL - Tune 245NC True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds - Black

Best Use of Gemini API
1 winner

It’s time to push the boundaries of what's possible with AI using Google Gemini. Check out the Gemini API to build AI-powered apps that make your friends say WHOA. So, what can Gemini do for your hackathon project?
Understand language like a human and build a chatbot that gives personalized advice
Analyze info like a supercomputer and create an app that summarizes complex research papers
Generate creative content like code, scripts, music, and more
Think of the possibilities… what will you build with the Google Gemini API this weekend?

Best Use of Solana
1 winner

The world of development is evolving fast and Solana is leading the charge with a network built to handle all of your infrastructure needs. Forget high fees and slow confirmations, it’s time to build applications that are fast, efficient, and scalable.

Harness Solana's core advantages like blazing fast execution and near-zero transaction costs to make your hackathon ideas become real world projects. With Solana, the possibilities are endless.

Create a game, social app, or consumer product that relies on instant, high-frequency transactions.

Design a sophisticated trading, lending, or decentralized exchange (DEX).

Build a prototype for supply chain, identity, or payments that can handle massive, real-world volume.

Show us how you can innovate with Solana for a chance to win some cool prizes for you and each member of your team!

Best Use of ElevenLabs
1 winner

Deploy natural, human-sounding audio with ElevenLabs. Create realistic, dynamic, and emotionally expressive voices for any project, from interactive AI companions to narrated stories and voice-enabled apps. ElevenLabs will empower you to build rich, immersive experiences without the need for actors or complex audio production, using simply the power of AI.

Integrate fully autonomous audio experiences into your hack with ElevenLabs and give your project a voice, along with giving your team the chance to win wireless earbuds!

Best Use of Auth0
1 winner

Auth0 wants your applications to be secure! Why spend hours building features like social sign-in, Multi-Factor Authentication, and passwordless log-in when you can enable them through Auth0 straight out of the box? Auth0 is free to try, doesn’t require a credit card, and allows for up to 7,000 free active users and unlimited log-ins. Make your new account today and use any of the Auth0 APIs for a chance to win a pair of wireless headphones for you and each member of your team!

Best Use of Auth0 AI Agents
1 winner

As AI agents become more autonomous, security is more critical than ever. We’re looking for the most innovative implementation of Auth0 for AI Agents. Show us how you use Auth0’s robust APIs to manage identities, secure agent-to-user interactions, and protect your application’s integrity.

Why Auth0?
Zero Friction: 7,000 free monthly active users.
Zero Risk: No credit card needed to sign up.
Total Security: Industry-leading MFA and social integrations.

Best Use of DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI
1 winner

DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI is a unified AI cloud for building, training, and deploying machine learning models and AI agents. Get access to GPU infrastructure like DigitalOcean GPU Droplets and Bare Metal servers, along with serverless inference and 1-Click Models for instant deployment of your favorite LLMs!!

Sign up for DigitalOcean today and get $200 worth of free credits that you can use towards building your next Gradient-powered hack. Enable your next project with DigitalOcean GradientTM AI for a chance to win some great prizes for you and each of your team mates!

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Dean Nelson

Dean Nelson
Chairman & Founder of Infrastructure Masons

Angela Chan

Angela Chan
Ops and AI Leader at Schneider Electric, CEO of Hackathons International

Dr. Denitza Arguirova

Dr. Denitza Arguirova
Director, Data Center Strategy at Crusoe

Ashley Dirou

Ashley Dirou
Global Sales Development Manager, CBS, Data Centers at Grundfos

Nadiia Nichoha

Nadiia Nichoha
Employer Branding Manager at Grundfos

Saurabh Kansara

Saurabh Kansara
Senior Technical Program Manager at Amazon

Sai Vikas Devisetty

Sai Vikas Devisetty
Cloud Technical Account Manager at Amazon Web Services

Sudheer Kumar

Sudheer Kumar
Lead GenAI Engineer at Visa

Harkirat Kaur

Harkirat Kaur
Quantitative Research Vice President at JP Morgan Chase

Deepna Thalanki

Deepna Thalanki
Software Engineer II at Uber Freight

Shreyas Jagadeep Shete

Shreyas Jagadeep Shete
ML & AI Team Manager at Cognizant, FAANG Consultant

Sai Vishnu Bolisetty

Sai Vishnu Bolisetty
Digital Health Management Consultant-3 at Baylor Scott and White Health

Archana Sundar

Archana Sundar
Lead Specialist in Conversational AI at HCLAmericas

Jatin Joshi

Jatin Joshi
Vice President, Software Engineering at U.S. Bank

Sanjoy Sarkar

Sanjoy Sarkar
Senior Vice President, Senior Director - Head of Enterprise Workflow Automation & Robotics at First Citizens Bank

Abrar Ahmed Syed

Abrar Ahmed Syed
Advisor Application Designer at Gainwell Technologies LLC

Abhay Garg

Abhay Garg
Founding Platform Engineer @ Braes | Co-Founder @ MotionSync

Sreenivasa Reddy Hulebeedu Reddy

Sreenivasa Reddy Hulebeedu Reddy
Principal/Lead Software Engineer at Varenya Inc

Unnathi Vithlani

Unnathi Vithlani
Cybersecurity Analyst at Advanced Image

Sumit Singh

Sumit Singh
Software Engineer at MinMax Technologies

Judging Criteria

  • Technology
    How advanced and effective is the use of technology in the project?
  • Presentation
    Clarity, engagement, and professionalism of the presentation
  • Innovation/Creativity
    Originality of the idea and creative problem-solving
  • Execution
    Quality of the implementation and how well the project functions
  • Theme
    Relevance to the hackathon theme and integration of the theme in the project Theme: “Retro-futurism meets optimism — build the future the way we once imagined it.”

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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