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We are looking forward to hosting our 2021 Hackathon from November 12th to November 14th virtually. Along with our typical hackathon festivities, we decided to create a beginner track since many of our attendees are beginners and don't always feel as confident in their skills as our more experienced hackers. We decided to do this to encourage hackers of all levels to participate in the hackathon! We are developing a guide specific for hackers who have very little to no project building experience that will show them where to get help, come up with project ideas, and get started. We are also creating a set of prizes for hackers on this track that are awarded based on non-technical criteria to encourage hackers to continue working on their project ideas as their skill set develops by attending workshops and collaborating with their teammates.

First-time hacker? Don't have a lot of programming experience? Don't worry! Here's how we plan to make our hackathon beginner-friendly:

 

  • Beginner-friendly Hacker Packet :
    • Will include information to provide insight and inspiration to start developing a project.
    • Times and descriptions of all the beginner-focused events that we are going to have
  • Beginner Workshops: Will require little to any knowledge and introduce key knowledge for developing a project such as wireframing/prototyping, JavaScript, Python, and more!
  • Beginner-Friendly Prize Track(s): The purpose of this prize track is to encourage new hackers to submit and learn something by the end of the hackathon! Some judging criteria for this prize will primarily be based on having a strong and clear project proposal such as a good wireframe/ prototype, clear project requirements, and researching what technologies would be needed to fully implement the idea.
  • General Prize Track: Don't worry. Choosing the beginner track does not disqualify you from winning a general track prize**.*

Requirements

Knight Hacks Submission Requirements

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$11,639 in prizes

Best Domain Name from Domain.com

Register a .tech domain name using Domain.com during the weekend. Each team may submit one entry per person on the team. Each winning team member will receive a PowerSquare Qi wireless phone charger.

Best Hardware Hack Sponsored by Digi-Key

Using your preferred hardware or hardware emulator, build a hack for your chance to win a Grove Beginner Kit, with embedded Arduino Uno compatible board. Each winning team member will receive a prize!

Best Use of Google Cloud

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. Each winning team member located in the US will receive a Google Cloud Swag Bag complete with a beanie, pillow, journal, socks and lanyards. International winners will receive a Google branded backpack.

Prize : Google Cloud branded backpack or
(domestic shipping only): Google Cloud Swag Box

Best Space App powered by Space Force

The sky is not the limit! Try your hand at making a space-themed application for a chance to win a wireless Bluetooth speaker for you and your team from the U.S. Space Force! We’re looking for amazing solutions to any space-related problems you can imagine. For any sci-fi enthusiast, this is the perfect opportunity to push the limits of your creativity by building the technology of tomorrow, today. We can’t wait to see the solutions you build!

Please note: the majority of your team members must be located in the United States to qualify.

Prize: Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

Most Creative Use of Twilio

Twilio allows you to incorporate mobile messaging, phone calls and a ton of other awesome communication features right into your hackathon project using web service APIs. Are you building an e-commerce website and want to send text notifications or email confirmations once an order is completed? Or maybe your application needs to verify users based on their mobile numbers? Twilio makes all this possible and more. Build a hack that simplifies your life using any one of Twilio’s APIs for a chance to win a Twilio Swag Box and GameGo Console for you and each of your teammates! Prize: Twilio Swag Box GameGo Console

Best Use of TI

Prize awarded for use TI technology in the project. Can be using TI device(s) for analog or embedded processing. Prize: JBL Charge 3 speakers

NSIN - Digital Twinning & Co-Presence

Creating the ability to simulcast physical and virtual events. Our tech grove manager, Kevin Mikalsen, will give a tech talk and be a mentor.

View the Unity model of Tech Grove here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zW1dj-19IsOqOVWHbz22MBvmkcbMJQUb

View Temporary WebGL exe:
https://www.josephkider.com/hidden/piv/

Prize:
The winning team would have the opportunity to display their submission in the Tech Grove booth at this year’s I/ITSEC 2021 conference in Orlando, FL. I/ITSEC is the Modeling, Simulation, and Training industry’s leading trade show conference – with over 20,000 participants and 2,000 exhibits.

Synopsys Smart Everything

Synopsys technology is at the heart of innovations that are changing the way people work and play. These breakthroughs are ushering in the era of Smart Everything―where devices are getting smarter and connected, and security is an important consideration. Synopsys is looking for the team with the best Smart Design to help the world develop, while also taking into consideration the security risks.

Prize: “Audio Kit’s” customized with Synopsys logo * 4 (one for each member on the team)

Facebook - Express Yourself

In the past year, we were often apart from loved ones and missed milestone moments together- having a huge impact on our mental health. In the spirit of social good, Build technology that enables users to express their individuality and build empathy towards other.

Prize: Facebook Portal

ManTech

Use the message and associated algorithm and find the unique flag and solution. Send the flag and solution to 'cyber.challenge@mantech.com' with subject 'Cyber Challenge Solution Algo 1 & 2 - Knight Hacks 21'. Include how you solved the challenge with a technical explanation, description of how you used any resources/tools, and any pitfalls encountered.

More information on

mantech.com/mantech-cyber-challenge

Leading Learners - 1st place

Looking to test out a venture idea? Want to make a social impact? Entrepreneurship means executing a vision and effectively communicating it with others to ensure the achievement of a common goal. The Entrepreneurship track hosted by Leading Learners at Knight Hacks allows you to test out venture ideas, establish your values, and turn your idea into a reality.

Prize : Expansion Packs ( values at $100 USD each) The Leading Learners Expansion Packs focus on thoroughly explaining 15 ways for student winners to completely focus on the idea's growth, innovtation

1st Overall - General

Technology - How technically impressive the project is. Design - How user-friendly the project is Completion - Is the project functional? Learning - Were you able to learn something from this experience?

2nd Overall - General

Technology - How technically impressive the project is. Design - How user-friendly the project is Completion - Is the project functional? Learning - Were you able to learn something from this experience?

3rd Overall - General

Technology - How technically impressive the project is. Design - How user-friendly the project is Completion - Is the project functional? Learning - Were you able to learn something from this experience?

1st Overall - Beginner

Learning - Were you able to learn something from this experience? Accomplishments - Even if you could not finish, brag about what you were able to do! Planning - Did you create any prototypes, documentation, ERDs, Use Case Diagrams, etc., to help plan your project?

2nd Overall - Beginner

Learning - Were you able to learn something from this experience? Accomplishments - Even if you could not finish, brag about what you were able to do! Planning - Did you create any prototypes, documentation, ERDs, Use Case Diagrams, etc., to help plan your project?

3rd Overall - Beginner

Learning - Were you able to learn something from this experience? Accomplishments - Even if you could not finish, brag about what you were able to do! Planning - Did you create any prototypes, documentation, ERDs, Use Case Diagrams, etc., to help plan your project?

Leading Learners - 2nd Place

Looking to test out a venture idea? Want to make a social impact? Entrepreneurship means executing a vision and effectively communicating it with others to ensure the achievement of a common goal. The Entrepreneurship track hosted by Leading Learners at Knight Hacks allows you to test out venture ideas, establish your values, and turn your idea into a reality.

Prize : N/A

Leading Learners - 3rd Place

Looking to test out a venture idea? Want to make a social impact? Entrepreneurship means executing a vision and effectively communicating it with others to ensure the achievement of a common goal. The Entrepreneurship track hosted by Leading Learners at Knight Hacks allows you to test out venture ideas, establish your values, and turn your idea into a reality.

Prize : N/A

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Victoria Williamson

Victoria Williamson
Knight Hacks Lead Organizer

Judging Criteria

  • Technology
    How technically impressive was the hack? Was the technical problem the team tackled difficult? Did it use a particularly clever technique or did it use many different components? Did the technology involved make you go "Wow"?
  • Design
    Did the team put thought into the user experience / human-computer interaction? How well designed is the interface?
  • Completion
    Does the hack work? Did the team achieve everything they wanted?
  • Learning
    id the team stretch themselves? Did they try to learn something new? What kind of projects have they worked on before?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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