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menu Major League Hacking 2022 Hackathon Season

8.0 is here.
Are you ready?


Join us in-person or online October 22-24, 2021


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Are you ready for the world's largest collegiate hackathon?

At Cal Hacks, students from all disciplines come together in teams of 4 to bring their innovative and potentially life changing ideas to reality.

At our last iteration in 2019, Cal Hacks 6.0 brought together 2,200+ attendees from 150 universities and 5 countries to build everything from a boba-making robot to artificial intelligence for language learning. Through the 2020-21 season, we hosted several virtual events — hack:now, Hack Month, and hello:world — to challenge the norms of what an online hacking experience could become.

Now for Cal Hacks 8.0, we're building on our tradition of technical and inclusive excellence by bringing together the world's brightest, ambitious collegiate hackers to create impactful, diverse, and innovative projects.

At Cal Hacks, it is a crucial aspect of our mission to embrace and promote inclusivity, accessibility, and ethics. All participants are expected to respect both our and MLH's Code of Conduct to facilitate a positive hackathon experience!

Hacking is back, both online and in-person!

This year, Cal Hacks 8.0 will be hybrid with both virtual and in-person components.

What does a hybrid event entail? Most of our event, which includes ceremonies, hacking, judging, and mentorship will still be virtual, but select events such as workshops and entertainment will be in-person! In order to attend in-person, you'll need to be a resident of Berkeley, CA or a student at UC Berkeley, and you MUST have proof of full vaccination against COVID-19. We can't wait to see you all hack together again!

For all registered hackers, keep an eye out for a final logistics email one week prior to the hackathon.

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Who comes to Cal Hacks? You.

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Leaders

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Beginners

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Hackers

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Creators

Get involved...

Volunteers

Volunteers are the back bone of any event, especially those as large as our hackathon. With opportunities for in-person events (i.e. food, swag distribution, workshops), we need all the help we can get in making these events run as smoothly as possible!

Mentors

If you have a career in an industry related to entrepreneurship, tech, design, and/or finance, we'd love to have you help us out as a mentor! Mentors work with our participants through hands-on interactions to help build out their project ideas.

Judges

If you have industry experience as a developer, entrepreneur, or another related field, we'd love to have you as a judge! Judges help determine the winning project submissions at the end of the hackathon.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a hackathon? keyboard_arrow_down

A hackathon is an event where students come together to create tech projects in a collaborative environment. Through the course of 24-72 hours, teams of students will ideate, design, code, and create to complete their project!

When/where is Cal Hacks 8.0? keyboard_arrow_down

Cal Hacks 8.0 will happen on October 22-24. We're planning to host the event in a hybrid capacity, which means that you can attend from anywhere in the world, but there'll be events that offer in-person components on the beautiful UC Berkeley campus! (Unfortunately, for health and safety reasons, we are limiting our in-person functions to UC Berkeley students ONLY.)

Who is eligible to attend? keyboard_arrow_down

Cal Hacks 8.0 is open to all college students over the age of 18.

I'm a UC Berkeley student — do I still need to apply? keyboard_arrow_down

Yes — UC Berkeley students should still apply through our application portal!

Do I need coding or hacking experience? keyboard_arrow_down

Good question! The answer is no - you don't need any prior coding or hacking experience to have a fun time at 8.0! In fact, our hackathon is the perfect place to learn, and we hope everyone - regardless of experience - gets the chance to learn something new! Plus, we partner with UC Berkeley clubs to host workshops geared for hackers of all skill levels!

Can I participate as a volunteer / mentor / judge? keyboard_arrow_down

For interested volunteers: Volunteers are the backbone of any event, especially those as large as our hackathon. With opportunities for in-person events (i.e. food, swag distribution, workshops, etc.), we need all the help we can get in making these events run as smooth as possible! If you are interested in helping Cal Hacks 8.0 as a volunteer, sign up here: volunteers. For interested mentors and judges: If you have a career in an industry related to entrepreneurship, tech, design, and/or finance, we'd love to have you help us out as a judge or mentor! Mentors work with our participants through hands-on interactions, whereas judges help with judging project submissions near the end of the hackathon! If you're interested, be sure to let us know through the mentor signup or our judge registration! *Swag is provided for judges and mentors!*

Where can I find the schedule for the event? keyboard_arrow_down

Our finalized schedule will be released on this live site closer to the event! Be on the lookout for in-person components 😉

What should I bring? keyboard_arrow_down

For one - bring that positive attitude of yours! Most of our event will be virtual, but for our in-person components (UC Berkeley students only), bring your student ID! More details to come.

How do teams work? keyboard_arrow_down

The application lets you apply as part of a team of up to 4 students. All you have to do is enter their name and email into the "Team" section of the application - make sure they submit the application as well! We'll also match students who don't have a team prior to Cal Hacks 8.0! We will also let students compete solo ... but where's the fun in that? 🙂

How much will this cost? keyboard_arrow_down

Cal Hacks 8.0, like all our past hackathons, is completely free for all accepted hackers! We'll provide the resources you need to hack comfortably and creatively. Did someone say swag? Yep, we'll also provide swag to qualifying hackers!

Are there restrictions to what my team can build? keyboard_arrow_down

Feel free to build whatever your heart desires! You are welcome to submit any project related to hardware, software, or tech. However, you must not have completed this project prior to Cal Hacks 8.0 (yes, we do check.) Projects will be judged by our qualified judges on criterion involving creativity, technical difficulty, final polish, and usefulness.

What if I want to work on my project after the hackathon is over? keyboard_arrow_down

Glad you asked! One of our initiatives, the Cal Hacks Fellowship, was jumpstarted specifically for this purpose! At the Fellowship, teams can continue their project with the help of one-on-one mentorship, direct interactions with industry professionals, equity-free funding, and more! We recommend all hackers to apply to Fellowship to take their projects to the next level ... dare we say, to the moon? 🚀

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