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.
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
Starter League
Julia Anaya
Venture For America
Matt Stimmel
Belvedere Trading
Peter Halliday
Datastax
Shy Ruparel
Major League Hacking
Edward Bridge
IBM
Justin Woo
PayPal
Brad Morehead
Lecturer of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management
Ian Horswill
Associate Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern University
Wes Dearborn
Entrepreneur
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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