IMPORTANT NOTE: Please make sure to register on our EventBrite page for this event.

About the challenge

Hack the Change 2022 is a competitive in-person two-day for-charity hackathon hosted on November 19th to 20th by Code the Change YYC. Code The Change YYC is a student-driven community initiative where computer science and engineering students use their skills for social change.

This hackathon is a great opportunity for students to test themselves under pressure, build their skills in software development, and do something good for the community. Students will work in groups of 2-5 to develop a presentable project centered around a social change theme. The prize pool this year will be our biggest ever, with over $15,000+ CAD of winnings split between charities and winning students.

The hackathon is in-person at the University of Calgary campus in Alberta. Throughout the two-day event, students will have the opportunity to build projects centered around a social change theme, listen to relevant talks about software development and social change, and work with qualified industry mentors to spin up their awesome hackathon projects. In the end, students will have the opportunity to showcase their project to judges live to compete for the first-place prize.

We invite students from all backgrounds to compete in this competitive and exciting challenge.

Lunch and dinner are provided by our amazing sponsors.

Get started

Please sign up for the hackathon on our EventBrite page. More details regarding location, logistics, and itinerary are to come.

Hack the Change 2022 couldn't be possible without the support of our amazing sponsors. We would like to thank ATB, Benevity, the Hunter Hub, Cisco, Arcurve, Schulich School of Engineering, Lighthouse Labs, AltaML, Amazon Web Services, Helcim, and Village Ice Cream for their generous support.

Requirements

What to Build

On the day of the event, a topic prompt will be displayed to all students. As a team, it is your responsibility to build a software project around that theme and submit it in ~24 hours.

What to Submit

1. Submit a link to your project source code on DevPost.

2. Submit a 2-3 minute demo video presenting your product.

3. If deployed, please submit a link to a live demo of your product.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$CAD17,000 in prizes

First Place Prize

$3500 to the charity of the winning teams choice, and $3500 to the winning team.

Second Place Prize

$2000 to the charity of the winning teams choice, and $2000 to the winning team.

Third Place Prize

$1000 to the charity of the winning teams choice, and $1000 to the winning team.

Best Use of Cloud Computing

$250 to the charity of the winning teams choice, and $250 to the winning team.

Admin Team's Choice (4)

$250 to the charity of the winning teams choice, and $250 to the winning team.

Best User Experience

$250 to the charity of the winning teams choice, and $250 to the winning team.

Best Use of External APIs/Datasets

$250 to the charity of the winning teams choice, and $250 to the winning team.

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Oscar Wong

Oscar Wong
Figma

Fay Qian

Fay Qian
Hunter Hub for Entrepreurial Thinking

Oliver Hankinson

Oliver Hankinson
Benevity

Louis Lee

Louis Lee
Cisco Secure

Anas AlJabri

Anas AlJabri
Cisco Secure

Jenny Lien

Jenny Lien
AltaML

Sam King

Sam King
Code the Change

Eric Nosal

Eric Nosal
Arcurve

Ariba Anees

Ariba Anees
Avanade

Richard McCaughey

Richard McCaughey
Helcim

Karim Rashid

Karim Rashid
ATB

Nav Dhunay

Nav Dhunay
ATB

Jason Ho

Jason Ho
ATB

Dale Carter

Dale Carter
Benevity

Paulina Walas

Paulina Walas
Benevity

Judging Criteria

  • Idea
    Does the product address the prompt? Does the product introduce a new/unique approach or perspective?
  • Effectiveness
    Does the product function as intended? Does the product execute on its idea in a way that’s effective?
  • Technical Challenge
    Is the implementation complex? Does the product feature different parts? Does the product use interesting concepts or technologies?
  • Design
    Is the product aesthetically pleasing? Is the product easy to use? Does the design of the product elevate its function and original idea?
  • Presentation/Marketability
    Does the team seem organized in their presentation/demo? Does the presentation engage the judges and have real-world marketability?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Tell your friends

Hackathon sponsors

Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors

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