250+ Hackers 
More than $5750 in prizes

Thank you for a successful event! 

Thank you for being part of One of the Largest High School Hackathons with 170+ participants!

September 22nd to 23rd

One of the largest overnight hackathons for high school students in the Bay Area

42 Silicon Valley

6600 Dumbarton Circle, Fremont, CA 94555

GUEST SPEAKERS

Jeremy Rossmann
CEO of Make School
Peter Norvig
Co-author of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach


Schedule

Saturday

9:00 AM - Doors open
9:15 AM - Sponsor fair and team formation starts
10:00 AM​​ - Kickoff Ceremony
Keynote speech by Jeremy Rossmann, CEO of Make School
11:00 AM - Hacking begins and Workshop by Repl.it
12:45 PM - Lunch
2:00 PM - NLP Workshop by UC Berkeley EECS
3:30 PM - Team building competition
4:30 PM - Evening coffee
5:00 PM - iOS Workshop
7:15 PM - Dinner
8:45 PM - MLH Cup Stacking competition
9:30 PM - Deep Learning Workshop
12:00 AM - Midnight Snack

Sunday

12:00 AM - Movie
7:30 AM - Breakfast
9:15 AM - Projects due
9:30 AM - Closing ceremony
Keynote speech by Peter Norvig, Former Director of Research at Google AI
10:15 AM - Project presentations
12:00 PM - Awards ceremony
12:30 PM - Dismissal

Prizes

FIRST PLACE OVERALL: $1000 investment grant to the whole team, $500 DigitalOcean credit to each team member, and MLH Medals

SECOND PLACE OVERALL: $50 Amazon Gift card, $250 DigitalOcean credit for each team member, and MLH Medals

THIRD PLACE OVERALL: SYMA Drones, $100 DigitalOcean credit for each team member and MLH Medals

BEST USE OF ALGOLIA: Casio Calculator Watches for each team member

BEST USE OF AUTHORIZE.NET: LS20 Gaming Headsets for each team member

BEST ESTIMOTE BEACON HACK: One set of four Estimote beacons (worth $99 each) for each team member

BEST DOMAIN REGISTERED WITH DOMAIN.COM: Raspberry Pi's and PiHut Essential Kits to each team member

BEST GITHUB OCTOCAT DRAWING: Octocat plushie for each team member

BEST USE OF GOOGLE CLOUD PLATFORM: Google Home Minis to each team member

BEST USE OF HERE.COM: Hacker gear and swag from HERE.com

BEST IOT HACK USING A QUALCOMM DEVICE: DragonBoard 410Cs to each team member

BEST BEGINNER HACK: 2 ThinkBoards for the whole team, JetBrains Premier Licenses

FIRST PLACE BEST MATH HACK: Wolfram Alpha Pro and Wolfram|One subscriptions to each team member

SECOND PLACE BEST MATH HACK: $25 Art of Problem Solving gift cards to each team member

BEST DESIGN: Sketch Licenses for each team member
​
BEST UNITY HACK: Unity Pro Licenses for each team member

RAFFLE PRIZES

T-SHIRTS from Product Hunt, Quizlet, GitKraken, and CodeHS
​
GIFT CARDS

FAQ

What is a hackathon?
A hackathon is an overnight competition where teams identify and solve problems using technology. A hackathon does not necessarily have anything to do with breaking (hacking) into computers by using code and revolves around building a finished product that could be shipped and distributed. Events like these are great networking and socializing opportunities as there will be games and workshops to help you get to know each other as well as meet others in the tech field.
Who can attend this hackathon?
Anyone in high school (between the age of 13 and 18) can attend this event. A hackathon is not limited to coders and computer scientists: anyone with a passion to learn is welcome. We encourage students of all academic backgrounds to participate. We have prizes that will award all aspects of app development cycle. Some categories may include, but are not limited to, best design, best beacon hack, and best theme hack.
Where is the event, and how do I get to it?
This event will be at 42 Silicon Valley (6600 Dumbarton Cir, Fremont, CA 94555). Unfortunately, we do not have travel reimbursements, so you will have to arrange your own trip to the event. When you enter the complex, please use the back entrance since the one at the front will be locked, and please park outside of the taped off areas. We will have signs to guide you.​
What should I bring?
​Make sure to bring a sleeping bag, pillow, blanket, necessary toiletries, and a signed parent release form. You may also bring your own laptop, phone, and necessary chargers. Everyone will be provided with an iMac for the duration of the event, so a laptop is not required. If you plan on using hardware in your hack, bring whatever you need.
What is the cost of attendance?
The event is absolutely free. Thanks to our wonderful sponsors, we are able to provide you with great swag, prizes, workshops, and food.
What are the rules of the competition?
Please see the MLH Code of Conduct (http://mlh.io/code-of-conduct) and the Rules and Regulations below
What is the goal/theme of the hackathon?
​The theme of the hackathon is education. You are encouraged to solve problems that you face while studying, in school, or while learning in general. The problems you identify and solve with your products would be more pertinent to your daily life. You may even begin to use your product after the event!
How many people per team?
The minimum number of people per team is 2 and the maximum is 4. We want to encourage teamwork without giving too much advantages to teams with larger people. If you are coming to the hackathon without a team, we will have time for you to find a group. If your team is too large, we require that you split your team.
Can I win in multiple categories?
​Yes, it is possible, but unlikely. We recommend focusing on a single category to increase the likelihood of winning a prize.
​Do I need to know how to code?
​Of course not! We will have some workshops to help you get started coding, and not everyone has to work on the software aspect of a product. Every product has many different aspects to it, and coding is just one. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to code, you can always find a team, or ask any of our staff, and they will be willing to help!
What if I have dietary restrictions?
Don’t worry about this, we will do our best to accommodate vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free diets. If you have a dietary restriction not listed here, please reach out to us ahead of time so we can do our best to help out.
What will be provided?
​We will be providing you with food for the two days (Lunch and Dinner on Day 1, and Breakfast on Day 2). There will also be snacks and drinks for you to enjoy throughout the day, but you will not be permitted to eat food at the computers. We will also have, as mentioned above, iMacs with wired keyboards and mice, though you are not limited to using the provided computers for the event. There will be a room for you to sleep in at night as well.

Partners

2018 Sponsors

Title sponsors

GOLD SPONSORS

Silver Sponsors

Hackathon team

Executive Director

sahil jain
Executive Director

anish muthali
Director of Operations and Partnerships

ray lin

Mentor: Sara Subbanna

Rules

  1. This hackathon is reserved exclusively for high school students (must be between 13 and 18 years of age). Anyone older or younger is not permitted.
  2. We will not allow you to participate if you have not registered online. We will not conduct any sign-ups onsite during the event.
  3. There are no fees to attend this event. Food, drink, and swag will be provided free of cost to all registered attendees. However, you have to bring money if you would like to buy food from any location outside the venue or pay for any online services not provided free of cost by sponsors.
  4. All teams retain ownership of their product and any intellectual property, including source code, such as sound files, 3D models, etc.
  5. Using any open source code or API is allowed. However, stealing code and other intellectual property that is not open source or openly available is not permitted and will result in disqualification.
  6. Working on your hack before the event officially starts and after submissions are due is not allowed. Doing so will result in disqualification for any of the prizes, and you will not be allowed to present.
  7. Team sizes must be at least 2 people and not more than 4 people. If you are alone, we will hold a teambuilding event right before the hackathon. If your team has too many people, we will ask that you split your team. If your team size is not within the limit described, you will be disqualified from winning any prizes.
  8. Although everyone will have access to iMacs at the venue, you may bring your own laptop and other hardware to hack on. With these, however, please do not make any preparations that would be specific to your hack (e.g. downloading source code, outlining your code, etc.). Any work on the project should be done at the event.
  9. Please be gentle around all hardware that is provided to you at the hackathon. This includes but is not limited to Estimote beacons and the iMacs.
  10. Any hack which causes damage to a third party without specific consent from the third party is not allowed and will result in instant disqualification. This includes but is not limited to denial of service attacks and deploying computer viruses of any kind.
  11. You may not leave the venue at any time without informing one of the organizers. This rule is in place for security and safety purposes.
  12. Alcohol will not be served and is not permitted.
  13. Any dangerous weapon, firearm, or other harmful device are forbidden.
  14. Any inappropriate behavior outlined in the MLH Code of Conduct (http://mlh.io/code-of-conduct) is not tolerated. Committing any of these actions will result in disqualification.
  15. In case you see a violation of any of the rules outlined above, please reach out to any of the contacts mentioned in the MLH Code of Conduct (http://mlh.io/code-of-conduct).
  16. Any other violations of any common sense rules, harassment of staff, or other inexcusable behavior, as determined by staff, are not allowed.

    The following rules pertain to the venue (42 Silicon Valley)
  17. Food is strictly prohibited upstairs in the hacking area. Placing any drink on top of the tables is not allowed. Please make sure to keep your drink on the floor next to you.
  18. You may walk in and out of the venue freely, and there will be security onsite for the duration of the event. If you happen to leave the venue and plan on returning later, it is recommended to keep your BASEHacks shirt with you so that security can allow you through. An organizer will also check you in.
  19. As the venue is a college, students will be working on projects in different areas. Please respect their space and privacy by staying within the designated areas.