Main Description
Blackstart: Data Centers, Reforged: A 90-minute hackathon at Omni Pulse Tech 2026, hosted by Lightgrid Energy.
The challenge: How do we make data centers good neighbours? Create applications, policies, designs, plans or anything else that lets data centers benefit the people and places around them.
Data centers are not going away. Their electricity use is set to more than double by 2030 (IEA), and communities are pushing back: 63% of Americans oppose a new data center being built in their neighborhood (Economist/YouGov, Aug 2026). Let's build them right.
Example Projects:
- Power: the grid, when to run heavy computing, who pays for peak demand
- Heat and cooling: waste heat reuse, water use
- Noise and land: noise, light, siting, buffers
- Money and jobs: property values, tax, local benefits
- Trust and voice: transparency, community input, plain-language rules
Submission: A working app, a dashboard, a model, a one-page policy proposal, a mock-up, or a clear plan. Examples: a fee proposal for who pays for peak power, a noise map for a neighbourhood, a one-page fact sheet for neighbours. If it is clear and useful, it counts.
Who can join: Open to the public, with priority for Humber students and graduates. Teams of 2 to 4. Up to 30 participants, first come first served. No preparation needed. Coding (Python) helps but is not required. Design, business and policy skills are welcome.
How to join:
- Register for Omni Pulse Tech 2026 on Eventbrite.
- Register for this hackathon here on Devpost.
- Bring a laptop. A Windows laptop works best on Humber's systems. No software to install.
What you win: Prizes for the top three teams. Teams that want to keep going will be pointed to larger international competitions in this space.
Schedule: (Friday, October 30, times approximate)
- 2:00 PM: Kickoff and challenge introduction
- 2:15 PM: Build
- 3:30 PM: Submissions close
- 3:30 PM to 4:15 PM: Judging
- Around 4:15 PM: Winners announced
- 4:30 PM to 5:00 PM: Omni Pulse closing ceremony
Where: Omni Pulse Tech 2026, Humber Polytechnic (BCTI), 205 Humber College Blvd., Toronto. Hackathon room on the 5th floor.
About the host: Lightgrid Energy builds AI software that makes data centers grid-friendly. Check us out at lightgrid.energy
Listed from Devpost