Dates
Teca Hacks begins as soon as registration opens and all submissions must be uploaded to Devpost no later than January 12th at midnight. Projects submitted after this deadline will not be considered. All work must be created during the hackathon period, and participants may build at any time leading up to the deadline.

Eligibility
The hackathon is open to students of all skill levels. Participants may compete individually or in teams of up to four members. All team members must be registered on Devpost. Individuals may only participate on one team. Organizers, judges, and sponsors may participate as mentors but are not eligible to compete or win awards.

Project and Submission Requirements
Submissions must include a working project, a written explanation of what it does, a link to the source code, and any materials needed to understand the functionality. A demo video is strongly recommended but not mandatory. Any use of open-source code or external tools must be clearly credited. Projects that violate intellectual property laws, contain prohibited content, or rely on AI tools without meaningful human contribution may be removed or disqualified.

Prizes
Prizes listed on the Devpost prize page will be awarded to the top projects based on the judging results. Some physical prizes can only be shipped to participants within the United States. Winners may be required to provide accurate contact information for prize distribution. If a team is ineligible to receive a prize due to shipping or legal restrictions, the organizers may provide an alternative reward or recognition at their discretion.

Judging Criteria
Projects will be evaluated by industry professionals based on creativity, innovation, technical complexity, design quality, usefulness, and overall execution. Judges may also consider clarity of explanation, code quality, problem-solving approach, and the effectiveness of the demo. The criteria are qualitative and allow judges to reward projects that stand out in different ways.

Winner Selection
Winners are determined by the judges after reviewing all eligible submissions. Judges’ decisions are final and may not be appealed. If a submitted project is found to violate rules, plagiarize material, or misuse external code, the organizers reserve the right to disqualify the team and select an alternative winner. By entering Teca Hacks, participants agree to follow all rules and respect the final decisions made by the judging panel.


Disclaimer: This hackathon is only for students ages 13-18 only!