PennApps XIV is scheduled for September 9th-11th, 2016 at the the Penn Engineering Campus in Philadelphia. The fourteenth iteration of the nation's first college hackathon is upping the hackathon to new extremes, with the world's top and most promising hackers coming together to tackle real world problems using the latest in hardware and software. Teams start working on their hacks (at 8 PM) after the Friday evening kickoff and continue working till Sunday morning (9:00 AM). All submissions MUST be made here on Devpost. Videos are optional.

Eligibility

If you applied to PennApps XIV, recieved an offer to attend and went on to confirm that you will do so, you are eligible to attend PennApps. If you attended and hacked at PennApps, then you are eligible to make a submission. 

Requirements

Make your project, submit your hack to Devpost and attend the PennApps expo to show off what you built. You must demo at the expo and submit on Devpost in order to be eligible for prizes.

 

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$50,870 in prizes

PennApps XIV Grand Prize

Oculus Rift + Apple Watch Sport/Android Wear + XBOX One/PS4; Lutron Plug-In Dimmer Kit; Travel Vouchers (from AirBnb). Winners will also be flown to Facebook headquarters for the Global Hackathon Finals.

PennApps XIV Second Place Prize

Oculus Rift + Apple Watch Sport/Android Wear/XBOX One/PS4

PennApps XIV Third Place Prize

Oculus Rift/Apple Watch Sport/Android Wear/XBOX One/PS4

PennApps Route | Best Health Hack

Hacks that have applications in wellness, medicine and healthcare.
Prizes: iPad Minis for each team member

PennApps Route | Best Education Hack

Hacks that have applications in education. Prizes: iPad Minis for each team member

PennApps Route | Best Hardware Hack

Hacks where the main focus is on hardware. Prize: Hardware kits for each team member

PennApps Route | Best Cybersecurity Hack

Hacks where the main focus is on cybersecurity.
Prize: iPad Minis for each team member

PennApps Route | Best VR/AR Hack

Hacks where the main focus is on Virtual/Augmented Reality.
Prize: iPad Minis for each team member

PennApps Route | Best Social/Civic Hacking Hack Sponsored by JP Morgan (2)

Hacks with a primary goal geared towards issues of social or civic impact, or focus on a local community.

- Social / Civic Impact – how well does the solution address the challenge or problem?

- Innovation and Creativity – how creative is the solution? Does it bring new ideas and approaches to solving the problem?

- Completeness of Solution – is the solution finished? Does it work? Is there a roadmap for future enhancements?

- Sustainability – is the solution sustainable within the context of the community it’s aiming to impact?

- Design – is the solution well thought out and designed?

Prize: Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones for each team member of winning team and $50 Amazon Gift Cards for each team member of the Runner Up Team

Best Use of the Capital One API - Nessie

Presented by Capital One. Winners will receive $400 Amazon gift cards each.

Best Domain Name Registered in PennApps XIV

Presented by NameCheap. Winners will receive $150 credit in their NameCheap accounts.

Best Use of Data Visualization

Presented by Qualtrics. Winner will receive their choice of a mountain bike, longboard, or snowboard.

Most Entrepreneurial Hack - Blackstone

Create an “out of the box” solution to be sold to a company. Presented by Blackstone. Each member of the winning team will receive a pair of ATH-M50x headphones.

Best Use of VR/AR for Content Discovery

Presented by Comcast NBCUniversal. Winners will receive Oculus Rifts.

Lutron IoT Prize

Given to the hack which demonstrates a good integration between hardware and software. Presented by Lutron. Winners will receive Lutron Caséta Wireless Smart Lighting Plug-in Lamp Dimmer Kits (HomeKit-enabled).

Best Use of Nexmo API

Given to the hack that demonstrates:
Idea/Originality
Technical Difficulty (bonus points for using the Voice API)
Execution
Presentation

Presented by Nexmo. Winners will receive an Amazon Echo and Vonage Swag.

Best Use of Nexmo API - 2nd place

Given to the hack that demonstrates:
Idea/Originality
Technical Difficulty (bonus points for using the Voice API)
Execution
Presentation

Presented by Nexmo. $100 Amazon gift card for all team members an Amazon Echo and Vonage Swag.

Best Use of Linode Services

Presented by Linode. Winners will receive Pebble watches.

Best Financial Hack Using the Aladdin API

Given to the best hack that uses the Aladdin API. Presented by BlackRock. Winners will receive drones.

Best Use of MongoDB

Given to the best hack that uses MongoDB as its database. Presented by MongoDB.

Best Progressive Web App (2)

1 Pixel C Tablet + 2 Chromecasts + Android Plushies; Given to the two best Progressive Web Apps. Presented by Google & Polymer.

Best User Experience

Presented by Goldman Sachs. Winners will receive Bose speakers.

Best Use of Rapid Prototyping, sponsored by AddLab (2)

$50 in 3D printing credit

Best Design Using PYNQ-Z1 Boards, Peripherals, and Tools (3)

Given to the hack that demonstrates the best use and/or design using PYNQ-Z1 board, overlay design, application. Presented by Xilinx Inc.
1st Place winners will receive $250 and PYNQ-Z1 boards.
2nd Place winners will receive $200 and PYNQ-Z1 boards.
3rd Place winners will receive $100 and PYNQ-Z1 boards.

Best Use of Lyft API

Presented by Lyft. Winners will receive a Lyft backpack, $20 gift card, and an Amazon Echo each.

Best Public Safety or Video Processing App

Presented by Taser. Each member of the winning team will receive a Parrot BEBOP2 drone.

Best Amazon Alexa Hack

Winning team gets Amazon Echos. Presented by Amazon.

Best Embedded Hack

Presented by L-3.

Most Entrepreneurial Hack - Rough Draft Ventures

Awarded to the hack most likely to continue post-hackathon. Winners will receive an invitation to come to NY to pitch for 25k in funding from Rough Draft Ventures. Presented by Rough Draft Ventures.

FINRA 1st place

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

A Killer Judging Panel

A Killer Judging Panel

Judging Criteria

  • Technical Difficulty
    Is the hack technically interesting or difficult? Is it just some lipstick on an API, or were there real technical challenges to surmount? This is the most important criterion that your hack will be judged upon for the general prizes.
  • Originality
    Is the hack more than just another generic social/mobile/local app? Does it do something entirely novel, or at least take a fresh approach to an old problem?
  • Polish
    Is the hack usable in its current state? Is the user experience smooth? Does everything appear to work? Is it well designed?
  • Usefulness
    Is the hack practical? Is it something people would actually use? Does it fulfill a real need people have?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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