Hackathon Coming to UC San Diego October 2015

Have you heard? UC San Diego will host the inaugural SDHacks competition October 2-4, 2015. We sat down with the event’s organizer, computer engineering student Ryan Hill, to get a sense of what SDHacks is all about:

Describe SD Hacks in your own words.

SD Hacks is an opportunity for undergraduates to try new things and learn by doing. It's where we encourage you to build anything and everything, with only your imagination stopping you. We've done everything we can to have top notch mentors and resources present - that leaves the students to simply work their magic. We expect everyone to leave the event with something built and something learned. And then, after the event, we hope the hackathon never really stops for them - hopefully we kindled something deeper, and our hackers keep learning and building whatever they can dream up.

Give us the details.

• Who: YOU/undergrads from all over the nation
• What: A 36-hour-long hackathon, and we'll be providing meals the whole event. Prizes will be offered by industry-leading companies who want to foster innovation in the new generation.
• Where: UC San Diego, Triton Track & Field Stadium (click here for directions)
• When: October 2-4, 2015
• Why: I wanted to bring a hackathon to UC San Diego because we are home to some of the best and brightest – why should they have to go elsewhere to use their talents?

Are there any important dates we should know about?

Registration opened June 15th, and will be closing in late August.

Anything else we should know?

So far, there are nearly 1,500 students registered. We still have room for more – and we’re still looking for sponsors to offer prizes.

More questions? Here are some more answers:

1. WHAT IS A HACKATHON? A hackathon is an event, typically lasting several days, in which a large number of people meet to engage in collaborative computer programming.
2. WHO CAN ATTEND? We welcome any and all undergraduate students from any university to attend SD Hacks.
3.  HOW BIG ARE THE TEAMS? Teams can be as large as you’d like, but only groups of up to 4 people are eligible for all prizes and team-based travel reimbursement.
4. WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE A TEAM? No problem! We'll be having a mixer right before the hack so that you can team up. No one has to hack alone.
5.  HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? The event is free to undergraduate students who make it through our registration process. Food, electricity, internet, and all other necessary equipment for your development process will be provided.
6. HOW DO I GET TO THE EVENT? Several students will be awarded direct travel reimbursements, and there will be free bussing from major locations around California.
7. WHAT IF I HAVE A QUESTION NOT ANSWERED HERE? Feel free to contact our team by sending an email to support@sdhacks.io!

SDHacks was sponsored in part by the generous support of Qualcomm Incorporated, the UC San Diego Computer Science and Engineering Department, the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, ViaSat, Perkins Coie, Cubic Corporation, iBoss Cybersecurity, Drakontas Consulting, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific), leidos, ESET namecheap, Microsoft, IBM, Touch Tiles, Facebook, Slice, the Cyber Center of Excellence and Praxis. 

Interested in sponsoring? Send an email to sponsor@sdhacks.io.