Over the duration of 24 hours, women and non-binary people are immersed in tech culture and encouraged to exercise their imagination to create interesting and innovative hacks.

Technica 2020’s theme is “Expand Your Horizons”. We want to challenge our hackers to step out of their comfort zone and try something new, whether that's exploring a new technology, tinkering with hardware hacks, or coding for the very first time! This year we're introducing our beginners and hardware tracks, designed for hackers looking for extra support or interested in trying their hand at electronics. At Technica, we want our hackers to learn, grow, and meet new people, so join us at Technica 2020 to #ExpandYourHorizons!

For more information on our sponsors, weekend-of schedule, or general updates please visit gotechnica.org.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$43,410 in prizes

Best Use of Collaboration Technology - T. Rowe Price

Whether it’s your Zoom-bot or Symphony plug-in – bring your Best Use of Collaboration Technology to your hack! The hack will be judged based on:
- Quality (how creative or original is your hack)
- Execution (how well is your hack executed)
- Value (how useful is your hack)

For the winning team, it will be a priceless opportunity to connect with leadership in the technology industry on a whole new level. Want to talk shop – Cybersecurity, Engineering, Data Science? Want to meet with a Woman Leader in Technology? Learn about different career paths? Wondering about getting a job vs. going to Grad School? Just have coffee and chat with the CTO? We’ll help you choose the right leader!

♚ Personalized virtual meeting with a member of the T. Rowe Price Technology Management Committee for each winning team member

#hackislamophobia - Fifth Tribe/America Indivisible (3)

Technology platforms are increasingly being used by malicious non-state and state actors to promote hate speech and incite violence against minorities.
From pundits repeating conspiracy theories about Muslims to game search engines, to violent extremists posting livestream links on image boards like 8kun before committing a mass shooting, to regimes looking the other way while radical groups incite ethnic cleansing via encrypted chats like WhatsApp, Islamophobia has increasingly become weaponized through technology platforms.
America Indivisible and Fifth Tribe are looking for bold solutions to use technology as a force for good. The #hackislamophobia challenge is looking for the best idea for digital platforms that either track, analyze, or actively combat Islamophobic hate speech and advocacy online.

Prizes
♚ 1st place: $5,000
♚ 2nd place: $3,000
♚ 3rd place: $1,000

#hackislamophobia (Young Hackers) - Fifth Tribe/America Indivisible

Technology platforms are increasingly being used by malicious non-state and state actors to promote hate speech and incite violence against minorities. From pundits repeating conspiracy theories about Muslims to game search engines, to violent extremists posting livestream links on image boards like 8kun before committing a mass shooting, to regimes looking the other way while radical groups incite ethnic cleansing via encrypted chats like WhatsApp, Islamophobia has increasingly become weaponized through technology platforms. America Indivisible and Fifth Tribe are looking for bold solutions to use technology as a force for good. The #hackislamophobia challenge is looking for the best idea for digital platforms that either track, analyze, or actively combat Islamophobic hate speech and advocacy online.
♚ $200 cash prize

Best Hack to Build a “Smart” Tech Hub Ecosystem - M&T Bank (2)

Research the concepts and design principles of Smart Cities and Smart Campuses to drive innovation in our new Tech Hub at Seneca One. Showcase your ideas to create new experiences and services leveraging smart technologies - which are connected to the Internet and AI-driven - to improve various aspects of the employee and guest experience on Seneca One Tech Hub campus.

View our PDF for more information: https://technica-brand-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/mtbank-challenge.pdf, https://technica-brand-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/mtb-1.pdf, https://technica-brand-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/mtb-ppt.pptx, https://technica-brand-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/technica-use-case.pptx, https://technica-brand-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/race-for-place.pdf

♚ 1st Place: $250 for each winning team member from a prize catalog
♚ 2nd Place: A coffee chat with one of our M&T Technologists for each winning team member

Best Hack for Social Good - J.P. Morgan

Women often face unique challenges as entrepreneurs and small business owners, Some of these challenges include defying social expectations, gaining access to capital, being part of business networks, and finding a community of like-minded mentors. Develop a web or mobile app that would help increase the number or capacity of women entrepreneurs and small business owners.

View our powerpoint for more information: https://technica-brand-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/jpmc-challenge.pptx

♚ A pair of Bose SoundLink Wireless Headphones for each winning team member

Best Global Health Hack - Abt Associates (3)

How can technology help upgrade the clinical skills of frontline health workers in developing
countries? How can technology help prevent gender-based violence and keep individuals safe during the
increased isolation and stress that is the result of COVID19? How can technology help improve healthy child spacing in low-resource settings? How can technology help improve the reproductive health of youth (15-24)? How can technology help improve the operations of private clinical facilities in low-resource settings?

View our PDF for more information: https://technica-brand-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/AbtAssociates-at-technica-2020-hackathon.pdf

♚ 1st Place: $500 Amazon gift card
♚ 2nd Place: $250 Amazon gift card

Best Data Visualization Tool - Qualtrics

Create a visualization for data that matters to you and your team. Allow people to explore and interact with the visualization in an educational, informative way. Visualizations will be judged on:
- Impact
- Interactiveness
- Customizability (filters, colors, and more!)
- Aesthetic appeal

♚ $100 Amazon gift card for each winning team member

Best Hack for Stronger Communities - Nextdoor

Make a hack that brings people together and fosters connection within a community. The hack will be judged based on:
- Creativity
- Impact
- Comprehensiveness

♚ A DoorDash gift card to spend on your favorite local restaurant and a Nextdoor swag bag for each winning team member

Best Digital Forensic Related Hack - Cipher Tech

Show us your best digital forensic related hack. Topics include but are not limited to:
- Data carving\reconstruction\recovery tools
- finding specific objects (other than faces) in a large collection of digital images
- steganography detection or exploitation
- registry or memory artifact analysis
- encryption detection
- anything else that could aid investigators who are looking at devices of interest (e.g., computers or phones involved in a criminal investigation.)

View our PDF for more information: https://technica-brand-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/cipher-challenge.pdf

♚ A CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Kit and a Cipher Tech Bag of Swag for each winning team member

Most Secure Solution - Tenable

All entries must have downloaded the free Nessus Essentials and utilized the program to scan their solution/system at https://www.tenable.com/tenable-for-education. All vulnerabilities are assigned a point value:
Critical – 5 points
High – 4 points
Medium – 3 points
Low – 2 point
Info – 1 points

Entries must meet an initial vulnerability score of 15 points cumulatively based on first scan. Entries must document (via screenshot) initial scan results and final scan results. Winning entry will be the one with the most significant improvement in vulnerability score from initial scan to final scan.

♚ $1,000 Micro Center gift card

Most Creative Data Hack - Splunk

Splunk is on a mission to bring data-to-everything. Our goal is to enable our users to make sense of complex data by thinking outside the box. Please join us on our journey by showcasing creative ways you leverage large datasets to gain insights into the world around us. Bonus points will be awarded to teams that make use of Splunk or Splunk Investigate.

♚ A Bose Wireless Speaker and a North Face Duffle Bag for each winning team member

Hack for Housing Inequality - Wayfair (2)

Create a solution to support low income or displaced families on finding and securing housing or other vital resources.

♚ 1st Place: $100 Visa gift card for each winning team member
♚ 2nd Place: $30 UberEats gift card for each winning team member

Best Financial Hack - Capital One

♚ $300 Amazon gift card for each winning team member

Best Hack for Influencing Human Behavior - BSOS

♚ $50 voucher for the UMD bookstore

Best Data Hack - Travelers

In the Insurance industry, data is at the core of what we do. Data provides important insights into our business, our customers, our company and our systems. Data helps inform decision making at every level. In addition to the Insurance industry, technology solutions using artificial intelligence capabilities are being used to solve some of our most complex problems worldwide. Our challenge is simple : design and build an artificial intelligence application with data as the core element of your solution to help solve a problem of your choice. Your hack will be judged on the following criteria:
- How did data support the implementation of your solution
- Implementation of the idea (including user experience, AI design, and data integration)
- Quality of the idea (including creativity, originality and fit with your target audience)
- Potential impact on your target audience

♚ A pair of red Beats Solo3 Wireless Headphones for each winning team member

Best Use of Google Cloud - Google (2)

♚ 1st Place: A Patagonia, trophy, and water bottle for each winning team member
♚ 2nd Place: Google Nest Minis for each winning team member

Best Product IOT Hack - Qualcomm (3)

Make going to school easier! Come up with something that restores a work-life balance, or helps you get in that groove. Anything that helps you stay on track to living a healthy, balanced life!

♚ 1st Place: A JBL Flip4 Waterproof Portable Bluetooth speaker, a Qualcomm black North Face backpack, and a Qualcomm beach towel
♚ 2nd Place: Qualcomm swag bag
♚ 2rd Place: Qualcomm swag bag

Best Domain Registered with Domain.com - MLH

Register a .tech, .space, or .online domain name using Domain.com during the weekend. Each team may submit one entry per person on the team.

Visit https://hackp.ac/domain for a free domain name with the code SPOOKYSCARY!.

♚ A PowerSquare Qi Wireless Phone Charger and a Domain.com Backpack for each winning team member.

Pinnacle Hack Winner at Technica

Submit a hack to this category to be considered for Pinnacle, the Olympics of Hackathons. More information can be found here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lrdf0eiIpkupWwFf7yO3ExZGmkaST_AW/view and on our website at https://pinnacle.us.org/. All team members must be at least 18 years old.

♚ Tickets to Pinnacle, the Olympics of Hackathons, in Fall 2021. Full travel reimbursement to the event in San Francisco included.

Influencing New Horizons: Best Beginner Hack (Middle or High School)

Is this your first time attending a hackathon or creating a hack? We want to encourage all first-time hackers to submit their creations! At least one member of the team has to be a first-time hacker. Team members submitting for this category must be in middle or high school. We're excited to hear about what you learned and what you came up with for your first hack!

♚ Hammock for each winning team member

Creating New Horizons: Best Beginner Hack (College/General)

Is this your first time attending a hackathon or creating a hack? We want to encourage all first-time hackers to submit their creations! This should be the first hackathon for at least one member of the team. Ideally, this must be the first hackathon for all or almost all team members. All members are at least 18 years old. Participants should have limited to no prior coding knowledge. We're excited to hear about what you learned and what you came up with for your first hack!​

♚ Hammock for each winning team member

Best #ExpandYourHorizons Hack

This prize is for the best expansion upon previous ideas. How needed and effective is this idea/concept? Think Uber (expansion of taxis), Airbnb (expansion on hotels), Grubhub (expansions on food delivery), etc. How does this hack improve on a current solution to a problem?

​♚ A Polaroid camera for each winning team member

Best Hardware Track Hack (2)

The best hardware hack from Technica’s Hardware Track

♚ 1st Place: Hammock for each winning team member
♚ 2nd Place: Honorable Mention

Best Hardware Hack Sponsored by Digi-Key - MLH (2)

Using your preferred hardware or hardware emulator and build a hack.

♚ Grove Beginner Kit, with Arduino Uno R3 included for each winning team member for each team

Tech + Research Projects

Participants on the research track should submit their project here.

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Technica

Technica

Bank of America

Bank of America

T. Rowe Price

T. Rowe Price

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

M&T Bank

M&T Bank

Qualcomm

Qualcomm

Cipher Tech

Cipher Tech

Nextdoor

Nextdoor

Qualtrics

Qualtrics

Splunk

Splunk

Tenable

Tenable

Travelers

Travelers

Wayfair

Wayfair

Appian

Appian

Capital One

Capital One

Pinnacle

Pinnacle

Abt Associates

Abt Associates

Google

Google

Fifth Tribe

Fifth Tribe

America Indivisible

America Indivisible

Judging Criteria

  • Check out the prize descriptions!

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Tell your friends

Hackathon sponsors

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.