Visit synthesishacks.com for more details.
About the challenge
Synthesis Hacks is a free, in-person 12-hour hackathon for high schoolers in the Bay Area. It runs Saturday, May 23, 2026, at Google Humboldt in Sunnyvale, CA.
Beginners are welcome. A lot of attendees will be writing their first real code on Saturday, and mentors are around the whole day to help when you get stuck.
Show up alone or with friends. We run a team-matching session right after check-in for anyone arriving solo. Teams are 2 to 4 people. Build whatever you want: an app, a website, a game, a hardware hack. You have until 5 PM to submit.
Sponsors cover food, prizes, drinks, snacks, and WiFi. You bring a laptop, a charger, and a school ID for check-in.
Who it's for
High school students, grades 9 through 12. No prior experience needed.
Location
Google Humboldt
227 Humboldt Ct, Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Prize Categories
- Grand Prize (announced closer to the event)
- Best Technical Implementation
- Most Creative Concept
- Best First Hackathon
- Best UI/UX Design
- Audience Favorite
CONTACT
team@synthesishacks.com or bernard.w.freund@gmail.com for general questions.
sponsors@synthesishacks.com for sponsorship.
Discord: https://discord.gg/Pwkn86hH
Requirements
Submissions
Each team submits one project on Devpost by 5:00 PM on May 23, 2026.
Required fields:
- Project name
- Details, what it does
- Screenshots, interactives
- A link to your code (GitHub, GitLab, or similar)
- All team members added to the submission
You can use any language, framework, library, API, or AI tool you want. Cite anything you didn't write yourself. The project has to be built during the event, between 9:30 AM and 5:00 PM on May 23. Pre-built projects will be disqualified.
After submitting, present your project in person to the judges starting at 5:30 PM. Each team gets a few minute demo slot. Bring whatever you need to show it off.
Prizes
1st Place Overall
$150 Amazon Giftcard
$1,500 YRI scholarship
Soundcore noise cancelling headphones ($70)
Google laptop carrier bag ($40)
Google tote bag ($12)
2x .xyz domain
Up to 4 YRI auto admissions depending on team size
2nd Place Overall
$75 Amazon Giftcard
Amazon Echo Dot ($50)
Nano Banana sweatshirt ($90)
.xyz domain
Up to 2 YRI auto admissions depending on team size
3rd Place Overall
$70 Amazon Giftcard
Google tote bag
.xyz domain
YRI auto admission
Best Beginner Hack
$50 Amazon Giftcard
Google tote
AoPS coupon
.xyz domain
Best AI Hack
$20 Amazon Giftcard
Claude Pro for 1 month
.xyz domain
YRI auto admission
Best Design/Website
$35 Amazon Giftcard
AoPS coupon
YRI auto admission
.xyz domain
Google sticker bundle
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Deep Gajjar
Google
Disha Patel
Apple
Phoebe Wang
OpenAI
Neelakshi Soni
Meta
Mariia Pliusnova
DeepAI
Judging Criteria
-
To be announced
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Tell your friends
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.