Welcome to the Fall 2016 hackNY Student Hackathon! hackNY organizes once-a-semester student hackathons at which NYC startups present their technologies and students build original applications based on them. Winning teams have presented at the New York Tech Meetup. Check back here for info, signup for our newsletter or follow us @hackNY for additional details.
SCHEDULE
Saturday
12:00pm - Doors Open to Attendees; Lunch is Served (main hallway, outside Auditorium)
01:00pm - Opening Ceremonies, & NYC and sponsor API presentations
03:00pm - Hacking Begins (see below for room list)
03:00pm - Data Visualization in Python Workshop (Room 101)
06:30pm Watchdogs2 CTF (Auditorium)
07:30pm Dinner is Served (13th Floor Lounge)
08:30pm Ladies Storm Hackathons Meetup (Room 312)
11:00pm MLH Event - Slideshow Karaoke (Auditorium)
Sunday
12:00am Midnight Surprise (13th Floor Lounge)
02:00am Late Night Snack (13th Floor Lounge)
08:00am Breakfast is Served (13th Floor Lounge)
11:00am Devpost Submissions Due!
11:30am Lunch is Served (Main hallway, outside auditorium)
12:00pm Demos Begin
02:30pm Judges Deliberate; Community Announcements; Winners Are Announced!
This page will be updated as information becomes available, check back often!
HACKATHON ROOMS
If you will be working on an Android or iOS hack, we encourage you to work at the cortex corresponding to that technology. Cortexes are spaces for hackers working with the same technologies to work together, solve technical challenges, and debug.
Please note that some rooms will have special events in them at different times during the hackathon and will have to be cleared during those events. Rooms with special events have been marked.
101 Open for Hacking (This room must be cleared for the DataVis Workshop 3pm Saturday)
102 MLH Hardware Lab, and Arduino Cortex
109 Auditorium (Opening and Closing Ceremonies)
201 iOS Cortex
202 Android Cortex
312 Open for Hacking (This room must be cleared for Ladies Storm Hackathons meetup 8:30pm Saturday)
317 Open for Hacking
412 Open for Hacking
505 Open for Hacking
512 Nap Room (Men)
517 Nap Room (Women)
524 Open for Hacking
605 Open for Hacking
705 Open for Hacking
805 Open for Hacking
905 Open for Hacking
1302 hackNY Staff Only
13th Floor Lounge Meals and Snacks
WORKSHOP
Data Visualization, By Heather Shapiro, Microsoft
Put the days of trying to decipher meaning from boring spreadsheets behind you. Visualize data to give greater and immediate meaning to all those numbers with Python. Explore the variety of options available for data visualization in Python using different libraries and understand which ones excel for what type of task. Create maps, statistical graphs and more detailed or interactive visualizations that can also be used on the web, ideal to take that blog post to a whole new level.
APIS
The following NYC and sponsor APIs will be demoed at our Opening Ceremonies. Technical Ambassadors representing each API will be around or online to help if you get stuck. For help with a specific API, see its channel on Slack. You may use any API you like,
Buzzfeed | #buzzfeed-help| @buzzfeed
BuzzFeed is a cross-platform, global network for news and entertainment that generates seven billion views each month. BuzzFeed creates and distributes content for a global audience and utilizes proprietary technology to continuously test, learn and optimize.
Buzzfeed has made a dataset available for this hackathon, access it at: goo.gl/xLpneyBuzzfeed is hiring new grads and interns!
Clarifai | #clarifai-help | @clarifai
Clarifai specializes in advanced image recognition through neural networks and deep learning. Our API allows you to give us any image or video, and you can get information about that image or video. We also released our beta version 2 of the API, which allows you to build your own concepts and do your own machine learning. Version 1 is at developer.clarifai.com, and Version 2 is at developer-preview.clarifai.com.
We are hiring! We want interns for Research Scientist, Deep Learning / Computer Vision, as well as senior roles in front end and mobile.
MongoDB | #mongodb-help | @MongoDB
MongoDB, Inc. is the company behind the database for giant ideas. We build MongoDB and the drivers, and sell software and services to make your life easier. By offering the best of traditional databases as well as the flexibility, scale, and performance required by today’s applications, MongoDB lets innovators deploy apps as big as they can possibly dream. From startups to enterprises, for the modern and the mission-critical, MongoDB is the database for giant ideas.
Download MongoDB here: https://www.mongodb.com/download-center?jmp=nav#community
We are hiring! We are seeking students who have a solid foundation in computer science theory, with strong competencies in data structures, algorithms, and software design. Common languages we include: C++, Go, Ruby, Python, Java, Javascript, Node.js
Twilio | #twilio-help | @Twilio
Other NYC startup APIs you may want to use are Foursquare, Giphy and Digital Ocean.
NYC OPEN DATA
The city of New York has over 1,300 open data sets available for you. You can find these athttps://nycopendata.socrata.com/. For more information about the Open Data portal APIs, you can get started here: http://dev.socrata.com/consumers/getting-started.html
If you’d like to see the full list of available datasets (as well as those that are planned to be released soon): https://nycopendata.socrata.com/dashboard
Information about the most popular datasets, keyword searches, and embeds are at: https://nycopendata.socrata.com/analytics
The City’s Tumblr with great uses and examples of Open Data in action is at: http://nycopendata.tumblr.com/
TECHNICAL AMBASSADORS
Technical Ambassadors are members of the NYC tech community who visit during the hacking hours to help hackers form teams, refine ideas, work through technical challenges, and stay motivated. You can find them on Slack, and around the event. They are ready to answer your questions, debug with you, and help your hack succeed.
HARDWARE LAB
MLH's hardware lab, features Arduino, Amazon Echo, Fire Phone, Leap, Muse, Oculus, Pebble, Sparkcore, Myo, and more to check out for the weekend. You can also pick up free AWS credits to use for your hack. You can also check out extra extension cables and power strips.
HACKNY SUMMER FELLOWSHIP 2017
Applications are now OPEN! Details at https://apply.hackny.org/
GETTING THERE
If you're coming from Philadelphia, Princeton, or Rutgers, there is a free bus sponsored by MongoDB picking up students on Saturday morning and dropping them off Sunday afternoon. You must register via the Evenbrite link below to be given a seat on the bus.
Eligibility
All projects must be submitted on DevPost by Sunday 11:00 AM, October 9th. There is no team size limit, but ll team members must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at the time of submission.
All participants are subject to the Code of Conduct signed upon registration to the hackathon.
All team members must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at the time of submission.
Requirements
Participants must submit a project to be eligible to present. Presentation length (typically 2 minutes) will be decided based on how many submissions we recieve
Projects must be functioning demos. Powerpoints and slides are extremely discouraged.
Prizes
$3,398 in prizes
1st Place
Our top 3 winning teams will present at the New York Tech Meetup! These awards can be won by any kind of hack - webapps, games, hardware projects, and more. Whether your hack is entertaining or useful, we’ll be looking closely at its technical merit, creativity, and overall awesomeness.
2nd Place
Our top 3 winning teams will present at the New York Tech Meetup! These awards can be won by any kind of hack - webapps, games, hardware projects, and more. Whether your hack is entertaining or useful, we’ll be looking closely at its technical merit, creativity, and overall awesomeness."
3rd Place
Our top 3 winning teams will present at the New York Tech Meetup! These awards can be won by any kind of hack - webapps, games, hardware projects, and more. Whether your hack is entertaining or useful, we’ll be looking closely at its technical merit, creativity, and overall awesomeness.
Most Self-Reliant
This award is given to an extremely creative hack that isn’t one of our friend Tess Rinearson’s “8 Kinds of Projects You Meet at Hackathons” - check out her blog post (http://tessrinearson.com/blog/?p=452) to read the list.
Most Topical
This is an award for serious technical work on hardware or software. Doing some extreme math, hardcore coding, or complex building? This award will recognize you, even if your hack isn’t the flashiest from the outside.
Best Hack Design
(2)
This award recognizes great visual design and UX. Judges will look at your user interface, graphics, and product design.
Best Hack Using a Presented Startup's API
Supporting the Tech Community is very important to us. This award goes to the best hack using local startup’s API to do something awesome.
Best Hardware Hack
Webapps don’t have all the fun. This award goes to the hack that best incorporates hardware.
Best First Hack
If you’re a team of new hackers, welcome to the world of hackathons! We have a special award to recognize the best hacks by first-time hackers. We’ll look at the technical and creative impressiveness of your hack and your learning over the past 24 hours.
#HackHarassment
Use your tech skills for good and hack online harassment. Build a software solution that can help reduce the frequency and/or severity of online harassment. Win HackHarassment Swag Bag.
Watch Dogs® 2 Best Device Privacy Hack
Everything is part of the internet of things now - from your phone to your fitness band to your thermostat. Build a hack that utilizes private data being collected from your devices, and show how you can turn potential vulnerabilities into something constructive.
Amazon Web Services - Best Use of AWS
1 TB Hard Drives
Best Domain Name from Domain.com
Domain.com Swag Bags
Best use of MongoDB
Amazon Gift Cards
Best use of Twilio
Philips hue white lights.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
How to enter
All projects must be submitted on DevPost by Sunday 11:00 AM, October 9th. There is no team size limit, but all team members must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program at the time of submission.
Judges

Courteney Ervin
Developer, New York Public Library

Yael Elmatad
Senior Data Scientist, Tapad

Jimena Almendares
Former Chief Product Officer, OKCupid

Liz Crawford
Former CTO, Birchbox

Sarah Guido
Senior Data Scientist, Mashable
Judging Criteria
-
Awesomeness
That's it. No hockey sticks, no market. Just awesomeness. See each prize's description for more information!
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Tell your friends
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