HackRU Fall 2026

Event Overview

• 📍 Location: Busch Student Center

• 📅 Date: Saturday, October 10 – Sunday, October 11, 2026

• ⏰ Times:

  • Doors Open: Saturday, October 10 at 9:00 AM ET

  • Hacking Begins: Saturday, October 10 at 12:00 PM ET

  • Hacking Ends & Devpost Submissions Due: Sunday, October 11 at 10:00 AM ET

  • Judging Begins: Sunday, October 11 at 1:00 PM ET

  • Prizes & Winner Announcements: Sunday, October 11 at 3:30 PM ET

Room Guide & Venue Logistics

• Hacking Areas: MPR, Center Hall, International Lounge (Get checked in near the Info Desk. If MPR is full, please bring your team to other hacking areas)

• Sponsors & Mentors: MPR

• Team Building & Workshops: Room 116

• Game Room: Cove (Games, workshops, and mini-events run from 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM. Earn points by attending workshops and winning games to redeem for prizes!)

• Break Room: Room 174

Tracks & Superlatives

Submit your project to only one track to be considered (Social Good, Education, Maverick, Gemini). Submitting to more than one track will lead to automatic disqualification. A winner and a runner-up will be chosen for each track.

You may also submit your project for superlative prizes, with a maximum of 2 superlatives per project.

Tracks

• Education Track: Projects must focus on building a more educated community.

• Social Good Track: Projects must focus on bettering the community in some way.

• Maverick Track: Any other hack!

• Gemini Track: Projects must make the best use of Google’s Gemini in their hack.

Superlatives (Choose up to 2)

• Best Solo Hack

• Best Newbie Hack

• Best Failure to Launch

• Best UI/UX

• Regeneron: Best Clinical Trial Solution

• Lucera Trading Systems

• Use of ElevenLabs

Prizes

A winner and a runner-up will be chosen for each track, along with superlative winners. Prizes will be announced at 3:30 PM ET on Sunday, October 11. All prize winners must be present to sign for their prize when prizes are given out. No exceptions will be made.

Judging Criteria & Winner Selection

Judges will visit each team’s table in person during judging (beginning at 1:00 PM ET on Sunday, October 11) and score projects based on:

• Functionality and Execution: Does the hack work as intended?

• Creativity and Innovation: Is the idea unique? Has significant thought been put into the idea?

• Technical Difficulty: Was the project technically challenging to execute? Does it require a high level of understanding or skill?

Winners are selected based on judges’ scores against these criteria. The decisions of the judges are final.