LAVAPUNK isn't just a hackathon; it's a foundry. The old systems are cooling, solidifying into obsidian. It's time to inject new heat. We are calling on developers, designers, and data alchemists to take raw data, campus struggles, and market gaps, and melt them down to forge something unstoppable.
"Sometimes we need the beast to come out like RAHH."
About the challenge
LAVAPUNK is a high-intensity, month-long hackathon focused on Campus Solutions, Data Aggregation, E-Commerce, and Developer Tools. We want you to build applications that solve real-world problems with aggression and speed.
We don't want "Hello World" apps. We want tools that dominate. We want platforms that scale. We want you to unleash the beast.
Requirements
What to Build (Themes)
1. CAMPUS LIFE (The Student Grind)
- The Mission: Solve real campus problems.
- Ideas: Timetables that actually work, study group finders, lost & found aggregators, campus event discovery.
- Tech: React Native, Firebase, Flutter.
2. INFO HUNTER (Data Aggregation)
- The Mission: Build intelligence from the web.
- Ideas: Scholarship scrapers, internship aggregators, price trackers, learning resource consolidators.
- Tech: Python, Selenium, ElasticSearch.
3. MARKET FORCE (Next-Gen Commerce)
- The Mission: Power the marketplaces of tomorrow.
- Ideas: Smart recommendation engines, fraud detection systems, seamless payment flows, seller dashboards.
- Tech: Next.js, Stripe, TensorFlow, Redis.
4. DEV ARSENAL (Developer Tools)
- The Mission: Build tools developers actually love.
- Ideas: Code generators, API testing suites, deployment managers, documentation automators.
- Tech: Rust, Go, Docker, WebAssembly.
What to Submit
- Project Title & Description: A punchy name and a clear explanation of what it does.
- Demo Video: A 2-minute video showing your project in action.
- GitHub Repository: Public link to your code.
- Tech Stack: List the weapons you used (e.g., React, Python, Gemini API).
- Live Demo: Deploy it on Web.
Prizes
Google Premium Professional Certificates
Awarded to top teams in Campus Life and Market Force tracks.
You will be given access to Google Certificates via Coursera.
Total worth - $500+
IBM Premium Professional Certificates
Awarded to top teams in Info Hunter and Dev Arsenal tracks.
You will be given access to IBM Skills Build Platform.
Total Worth - $500+
Perplexity Pro Access
1-Month Pro subscription for winning team members to supercharge your research and coding.
Total Worth - $400
Lavapunk Participation Certification
Digital certification awarded to EVERY participant who successfully submits a valid project. Prove you survived the heat.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Dinesh Kumar Elumalai
Solutions Architect, Honda America Inc
Rohit Gupta
Senior Software Engineer, GEICO
Praneetha Kotha
Lead Robotic Process Automation Developer, ERP Smartlabs
Tarun Mittal
Founder & CEO, Octave-X
Suresh Palus
Lead Software Engineer, Paramount+
Saikarthik Baira
Business Analyst, bioMérieux
Sai Teja Erukude
Data Scientist, Koch Ag & Energy Solutions
Ankit Hemant Lade
Principal Data Scientist, Ascentt Systems Inc
Abgar Simonean
Senior Java Software Engineer, Renault Group
Kishlaya Mishra
Hackathon Manager
Judging Criteria
-
Complexity & Technicality (30%)
Did you push the limits? Did you use the stack effectively? -
Impact & Utility (30%)
Does this actually solve the problem? Is it useful? -
Design & UI/UX (20%)
Does it look amazing? Is the experience smooth? -
The "RAHH" Factor (20%)
Is it ambitious? Is it intense? Does it have a "Beast Mode" feature?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Invite others to compete
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