SSU Engineering and the SBE Hackathon

Building Technology for Social Good!

Program Objectives:

The goal of this 48-hour hackathon is to engage participating SSU students to create a functioning hardware or software by the end of the event. Participants are expected to use the hardware and available open source software provided to them to complete their working prototype around specific themes that will be provided to them in advance. The key objectives of this event will be to help participating students:

  • Develop strong hands-on skills in both hardware and software development.
  • Build confidence working with other students remotely.
  • Connect students with industry representatives.

Other objectives include:

  • Encouraging students from different majors to work together.
  • Providing an opportunity for students to strengthen their resume.

Awards:

  • 1st place team: $500 award split equally amongst all team members.
  • 2nd place team: $200 award split equally amongst all team members.
  • Most Original Project: $200 award split equally amongst all team members.
  • All participating teams receive a certificate of participation.

Rules: 

  • Teams must have between 2 to 3 members.
  • All teams must use the hardware provided to them free of charge by the event organizer.
  • Additional hardware can be purchased/used by teams.
    • The total cost of the additional hardware cannot exceed $150 unless the teams receive prior permission.

Hardware Provided:

  • Students must first register for the event before receiving the free hardware 
  • All eligible students will receive the following parts: 
    • Sensor kit
    • Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADS 1115) 
  • In addition to the above parts, each eligible student will receive a microcontroller module. The information about the microcontroller will not be revealed until October 20th. 

Participation Eligibility: 

  • Participants must be current SSU students.
  • Students majoring in Electrical Engineering (EE) who have registered before October 9 have priority to receive the parts. 
    • Students from disciplines other than EE are also allowed to join the student teams and participate in the event. They will be expected to contribute in other ways such as the presentation of the final outcome. However, due to social distancing, parts will only be sent to EE students. In the future, we expect EE students to complete the working prototype along with students from other disciplines.
  • A maximum of 30 participants can register for the event.
  • Participating students must create teams with 2 or 3 members - we strongly encourage students to create interdisciplinary teams of students.

Theme:

  • Projects can address any real problems in various areas including, sustainability, personal gadgets, pandemic, automations, etc. 

Sample of Agenda:

Info Session and Team Formation Social (for participating students only) 

Orientation (for participating students only) 

Event Kickoff (open to the public)

Project demos and winner announcement (open to the public)

Where:

  • TBD

Judging Criteria: 

  • Prototype (20%) - Quality of the developed prototype and its completeness 
  • Complexity (20%) - Complexity of the project
  • Solves a relevant problem (20%) - The potential impact of the project on the community
  • Originality (20%) - Originality of the idea and approach
  • Presentation (20%) - Quality of the final presentation by the team

Volunteers: 

  • Mentors assisting teams with the projects 
  • Judges evaluating the final projects 

Sponsor:

  • TBD