Get ready for an exhilarating hacking experience as Hack the Valley from UTSC returns from October 13th to October 15th, 2023. This year, we're bringing together a dynamic community of 500 innovative and creative developers, designers, and creators for an intense 36-hour hackathon.
During this thrilling event, you'll have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of workshops, engage in awesome activities, and even score some fantastic swag giveaways. But that's not all – the main highlight is your chance to conceive and build an innovative project that will leave our esteemed judges in awe.
With an array of exciting prize categories to choose from, you'll have a shot at winning a share of over $3,000 worth of prizes. For detailed information on prize category descriptions and the event schedule, please refer to the hacker package sent to your email.
We can't wait to witness the incredible projects you create and the remarkable talents you bring to the table. Join us for an unforgettable weekend of innovation, collaboration, and endless possibilities at Hack the Valley from UTSC!
Requirements
What to Build
Build a project you're passionate about or solve a current issue, every team will be considered for the Top 3 Category. If you'd like to submit for any other prize category, please indicate in your submission.
Prize category descriptions are listed in your hacker package or below under Prizes.
What to Submit
- Write Up: Explain why you built your project, your tech stack and a summary of what your product does.
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Code: Provide a link to your Github project code in your submission. Your project will not be judged if you do not submit this.
- If you are submitting into 1 of the Company Challenges, make sure to carefully read and adhere to the Submission Guidelines outlined in the Company Challenge (ICP & Georgian = 5min Recorded Video Link)
What to present
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Pitch + Presentation: It's time to showcase your product! You will have 5 minutes to pitch your product to the judges, show them the best parts of it!
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Q&A: The judges will get 2 minutes to ask you both technical and non-technical questions about your product.
Prizes
$8,120 in prizes
Prizes paid in cryptocurrency
1st Place
Nintendo Switch
2nd Place
Beats Fit Pro
3rd Place
Razer Mechanical Keyboard
Best Beginner Hack
JBL Go 3 Speaker
Best Game
$50 Console Gift Card of your choice
Best AI Hack
Portable Projector,
$150 in Cohere Credits per team member
Best Financial Hack
$500 Cash Prize from Paybilt
Best Sustainability Hack
Fitbit Inspire 3
ICP Challenge - 1st Place
$1500 in ICP Tokens
Please see the following doc for details: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OK0VMJrWaKzGQHMacQobr7zt5Sgw58mF/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112995068824329593331&rtpof=true&sd=true
ICP Challenge 2nd Place
$500 in ICP Tokens for the team.
Please refer to the following doc on how to win:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OK0VMJrWaKzGQHMacQobr7zt5Sgw58mF/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112995068824329593331&rtpof=true&sd=true
Georgian AI Challenge Prize
Win an Office Tour + Mentoring with the Georgian AI Team!
Please see the doc:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iCZekbsyUvUoibJ8AhMuc9uUjAPeycO1/view?usp=sharing
(MLH) Best Use of Google Cloud
Google Cloud Backpack
Build your hackathon project with a suite of secure storage, powerful compute, and integrated data analytics products provided by Google Cloud. See full list of products here: g.co/cloud. Learn more about the tools and opportunities with Google Cloud by joining the Google Cloud Student Innovators program - goo.gle/student-innovators. Winners will receive a Google Cloud branded backpack!
Be sure to redeem your Google Cloud Credits as soon as possible through the Google Cloud Credit Form. Use the promo code in your pre-event email to access the form!
(MLH) Best Use of MongoDB Atlas
M5GO IoT Starter Kit
MongoDB Atlas takes the leading modern database and makes it accessible in the cloud! Get started with a $50 credit for students or sign up for the Atlas free forever tier (no credit card required). Along with a suite of services and functionalities, you'll have everything you need to manage all of your data, and you can get a headstart with free resources from MongoDB University! Build a hack using MongoDB Atlas for a chance to win a M5GO IoT Starter Kit for you and each member of your team.
(MLH) Most Creative Use of Github
GitHub Swag
GitHub is one of the best ways to collaborate, push code, get feedback, and show the world what you’ve built during a hackathon. To take it a step further, GitHub is now offering you access to industry tools, events & learning resources through something called GitHub Global Campus. Win this weekend’s Most Creative Use of GitHub prize category, first by signing up for GitHub Global Campus and second by using a GitHub repository to host your hackathon project’s code! Make sure your use of GitHub stands out with a detailed ReadMe page, meaningful pull requests and collaboration history, and even a GitHub pages deployment!
(MLH) Best Use of Hedera
Compact Mechanical Keyboard
Hedera is a next generation blockchain technology that’s accessible from familiar programming languages like Java and JavaScript. Their goal? To make Web3 development even more accessible to hackers like you! Build a project on Hedera's test network for a chance to win amazing Compact Mechanical Keyboards for you and your team!
- Build a decentralized application on Hedera using our JavaScript SDK.
- Build applications that never sleep using EVM compatible smart contract service.
- Say goodbye to cumbersome databases and hello to seamless scalability of Hedera Consensus Service. With no need for writing your own APIs your data is securely stored and easily retrieved.
(MLH) Best Use of Flow
$100 USD in FLOW Token
Flow is a public, decentralized, layer-one blockchain designed for creating limitless Web3 apps for mainstream adoption. Flow empowers hackers like you to build decentralized applications and share them with the world. Write safe and readable smart contracts with Cadence and explore the potential of composable, on-chain logic. With SDKs in multiple languages like Javascript, Go, Kotlin, Python, Swift, Unity, you can jump in and start your hack using Flow this weekend for a chance to win $100 USD worth of FLOW token for each member of your team!
(MLH) Best Use of Taipy
Wireless Headphones
Taipy is a powerful yet easy to use open-source Python library for creating full stack web applications! If you’re a Python developer, this library enables you to build interactive and dynamic graphical user interfaces and support them with data-driven backends. All of these functionalities are just a pip install taipy away and can cut your development time in half! Use Taipy in your hackathon project for a chance to win a set of Wireless Headphones for you and each of your team members, as well as a chance to have your project featured on the Taipy website!
(MLH) Best .Tech Domain Name
Blue Snowball Microphone & a Free .Tech Domain Name for Life!
Make your Team's Achievements timeless: Win a .Tech Domain Name for Life to Showcase and Expand Your Project, Plus 4 Blue Snowball Mics for Effortless Collaboration on Zoom, empowering you to build even more cool things together!
(MLH) Best Use of MATLAB
Wireless YoYo Speaker
MATLAB and Simulink are computational tools used at over 100,000 businesses, government and university sites in over 190 countries. Use MATLAB and/or Simulink exclusively or integrate them into another tool for your next hack to win an exclusive MathWorks branded Wireless YoYo Speaker! You can also claim a free MATLAB software license to get started.
Pulsar ML Challenge
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges

Howard Yang
Judging Criteria
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Technicality and Quality
The level of technical skill demonstrated, quality code, working prototype. -
Design
Attention to aesthetics, interaction and user interface. -
Solves a Current Issue
Meets a customer need, potential to be a business. -
Presentation
Clarity of written and oral presentation. -
Inspiration
How excited we are for this project, is it unique and creative?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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