Innovation Intelligence Hackathon
A selective startup hackathon. Build for a week, then demo live to founders and investors on October 11.
Not another generic hackathon.
Build for a real problem.
Name a market and a customer, not just a demo. Sharpest insight beats largest codebase.
Think past 4:00 PM.
Judging weighs insight and venture potential — evidence of something worth continuing.
Work next to people who build and invest.
Founders, operators, and investors from SCET and DECODE are in the room all week.
Demo like it matters.
Three minutes, live, on October 11. A startup demo, not a class presentation.
How it works.
Four steps from a pain point to a live demo.
Choose a track
Start from a real problem in one of five areas.
Build your team
Form a team across engineering, design, research, and business.
Build for a week
Turn the idea into a working prototype.
Demo live
Present to founders, investors, and the Tech Week community.
Great companies often begin as a small experiment run by people who couldn't stop thinking about a problem.
A full week to build — long enough to talk to real users and ship something that works — and three hours on October 11 to prove it.
We are not looking for finished companies. We are looking for evidence of something worth continuing.
Five tracks.
Tracks mark the space you're building in, not a required format. Every project competes for the general awards.
AI-Native Enterprise
Reinvent a real workflow with AI.
Agents · vertical AI · developer tools · legal · finance · operations · cybersecurity · infrastructure
The Physical World
Build where software meets atoms.
Robotics · manufacturing · logistics · mobility · autonomy · computer vision · energy · drones · IoT
Health & Human Performance
Build products that improve how people live, work, learn, or recover.
Health · biotech · accessibility · education · diagnostics · productivity · aging · HCI
Frontier & Deep Tech
Build for technologies and markets that are still taking shape.
Semiconductors · space · quantum · advanced computing · energy · climate · materials · scientific tools
Consumer & New Experiences
Build products people genuinely want to use.
Consumer AI · social · creator tools · marketplaces · commerce · travel · new interfaces · entertainment
The goal isn't to build something cool for a week.
Start with a real problem. Build something worth pursuing.
A week to build.
Three hours to prove it.
Teams form at kickoff on October 5 and build through the week. October 11 is judging and Demo Day.
Founders, operators, SCET Innovators-in-Residence, and investors hold office hours every day of build week — on campus and online.
What we're looking for.
Not a finished company. Evidence of something worth continuing.
Named customer, named market. Not a use case invented to fit the tech.
Something you understood about the problem that others did not.
A working prototype beats a deck. Rough edges are fine; vapor is not.
A first customer, a next step, a team that wants to build it past Sunday.
One top award for the strongest project overall, plus one award per track. Judges may name a small number of standouts beyond that.
How judging works.
Five weighted dimensions, scored by founders, operators, and investors. No revenue or business plan expected.
Is this a meaningful problem with a non-obvious insight?
Did the team build something compelling and coherent?
How strong is the implementation relative to the time available?
Could this become an important product or company?
Can the team say why this matters and why they are suited to build it?
Applications are selective.
One short form, reviewed on a rolling basis. Priority deadline Sep 28.
Questions.
Who can apply?+
Undergrads, grad students, and recent graduates from any school — technical or not.
Do I need a team or an idea beforehand?+
No. Apply solo or with a team — teams form at the October 5 kickoff.
Can I participate if I'm not a strong programmer?+
Yes. The strongest teams mix technical, design, and market thinking.
Do teams get any support during the week?+
Yes. Build week runs like a short accelerator: daily office hours on campus and online, covering problem framing, technical review, and pitch practice.
Do I have to fit a track?+
No. Tracks carry their own prizes, but every project competes for the general awards.
Can I use existing code, and can I keep working after?+
Existing code, open-source, and AI tools are fine — the demo must be built Oct 5–10. You keep your IP.
How are projects judged?+
Five weighted dimensions — the full rubric is above.
Will the event be photographed?+
Yes. Photos and video use are covered in the participation terms; ask an organizer to be excluded from published media.
When do decisions go out?+
Decisions are sent by email on a rolling basis after the priority deadline. There is no status portal.