EPIC's mission at Northwestern University is to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs. We understand what it's like to have a thirst for solving problems. We've seen firsthand what teams of motivated individuals can pull out of thin air in little time and under intense pressure. And we make it our mission to support students applying their skills in creating tangible solutions to real-world problems. So come join us in November as we host hundreds of hackers competing against each other for cash prizes while united in their desire to turn visions into reality. Come build something great. Come be EPIC.

 

Eligibility

Any college student willing and able to enter.

Requirements

Please submit at the very least a rough description of your hack.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$4,800 in prizes

First Place

The winning team will also receive their choice of a brand from BrandBucket (https://www.brandbucket.com/event/wildhacks), worth $1500, as well as t-shirts from Codeship (https://codeship.com/).

Second place

The winning team will also receive their choice of a brand from BrandBucket (https://www.brandbucket.com/event/wildhacks), worth $1500, as well as t-shirts from Codeship (https://codeship.com/).

Third Place

Venture For America Social Innovation

Venture for America is proud to award a prize to the team that creates the best solution to a social issue - hack a cause that means something to you (hunger, poor infrastructure, access to education) and help others in the process.

The hack addresses a social need - whatever that need is - in a creative, fresh way. The design takes into account usability and sustainability - and can range from hardware to software. Above all else, it fills a known need in a new, creative way.

Mailjet

Mailjet will be providing 3 Chromebooks to the team that displays the best use of the Mailjet API.

Dorm Room Fund Partner Meeting

Dorm Room Fund is a student-run venture firm that invests in student-run companies.

If you're a star from this hackathon and you're thinking of building your idea out into a company or are thinking you'd like to found your own company while you're still a student, we'd love to chat with you! The winner of this prize will be able to schedule a call with the Managing Partner of the Boston Dorm Room Fund to talk about feedback, ideas, and potential funding.

BrandBucket Brand (2)

The top two winning teams will receive a brand (brand name, logo, and domain) of their choice from BrandBucket https://www.brandbucket.com/event/wildhacks.

The brands are worth up to $1500 - all yours, for free (if you win)!

IBM Prize

An Arduino for each member of the winning team for best use of IBM Bluemix or Watson

PayPal/Venmo Prize (2)

Over $1k+ of Star Wars Lego Set. Including 4000 piece Star Wars Lego Death Star.

SmartThings Prize

Up to 3 SmartThings kits for the team that best uses the SmartThings Platform.

Microsoft Prize

Dell Venue Pro 8 tablets for each member of the “Best use of Azure” team. We will also raffle off a Surface Pro 2 based on entries from a Microsoft Survey.

Best Use of the Myo/Leap

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Neal Sales-Griffin

Neal Sales-Griffin
Starter League

Julia Anaya

Julia Anaya
Venture For America

Matt Stimmel

Matt Stimmel
Belvedere Trading

Peter Halliday

Peter Halliday
Datastax

Shy Ruparel

Shy Ruparel
Major League Hacking

Edward Bridge

Edward Bridge
IBM

Justin Woo

Justin Woo
PayPal

Brad Morehead

Brad Morehead
Lecturer of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management

Ian Horswill

Ian Horswill
Associate Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University

Wes Dearborn

Wes Dearborn
Entrepreneur

Tim Benroeck

Tim Benroeck
Developer Evangelist at Microsoft

Judging Criteria

  • Originality
    The hack should be unique and interesting. This can range from a new spin on a known idea (e.g. Uber for classrooms) to completely outlandish ideas (e.g. API t for tables). The hack should be something damn cool you’ve never seen before.
  • Usefulness
    Doesn't have to be business-ready or productivity-boosting. Should have the potential for people to find a use for it. So anything from a javascript framework for sending smells to a data visualization for crimes in the countryside.
  • Technicality
    The hack should be technically impressive for 24 hour project. They should have code and a functioning prototype. Anything from frameworks, apis, algorithms to interesting languages can added to the technical difficulty of the project.
  • Polish/Design
    Should look or work beautifully. The closer it looks and feels to a professional-grade application, the better. For more technical projects, polish pertains more to the ease of use (e.g. how easy is it to implement the api or use the javascript library.

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