HackMerced IX

Best Domain Name from GoDaddy Registry

GoDaddy Registry is giving you everything you need to be the best hacker no matter where you are. Register your domain name with GoDaddy Registry for a chance to win a Hack from Home Kit! Each Kit contains an assortment of awesome swag along with a tote for easy transport.<br>

Best Use of Auth0

Auth0 wants your applications to be secure! Why spend hours building features like social sign-in, Multi-Factor Authentication, and passwordless log-in when you can enable them through Auth0 straight out of the box? Auth0 is free to try, doesn’t require a credit card, and allows for up to 7,000 free active users and unlimited log-ins. <a href="https://mlh.link/auth0-signup" target="_blank">Make your new account today</a> and use any of <a href="https://mlh.link/auth0-docs" target="_blank">the Auth0 APIs</a> for a chance to win a pair of wireless headphones for you and each member of your team!<br>

Best DEI Hack sponsored by Fidelity

At Fidelity, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are viewed as major keys to the success of their business, which is why they are challenging you to come up with innovative ways to create forward-thinking financial tech that promotes equality for all people! We want you to use your hacking skills to find and build solutions that put financial opportunities and resources within reach for all communities, creating accessible, sustainable, and/or inclusive solutions. The team with the best hack will win a Fidelity branded wireless charger for each team member! <br>

Best Use of Flow

Flow is a public, decentralized, layer-one blockchain designed for creating limitless Web3 apps for mainstream adoption. Flow empowers hackers like you to build decentralized applications and share them with the world. Write safe and readable smart contracts with Cadence and explore the potential of composable, on-chain logic. With <a href="https://mlh.link/flow-sdk" target="_blank">SDKs</a> in multiple languages like Javascript, Go, Kotlin, Python, Swift, Unity, you can jump in and <a href="https://mlh.link/flow-gettingstarted" target="_blank">start your hack using Flow</a> this weekend for a chance to win $200 USD worth of FLOW token for each member of your team! <br><br>

Best Use of AI in Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) models, such as large language models (LLMs), are transforming how we interact with computers. During this weekend's hackathon, we want you to apply AI towards improving education to produce tools that support the quality, accessibility, and equitability of learning in today's classrooms. You can use AI to address any challenge teachers and students face, such as curriculum planning, question selection, teacher training, content generation, personalized feedback, automated grading and more.<br><br>For this challenge, we encourage you to draw on your own educational experiences and propose technical solutions to problems you've regularly encountered as students — after all, you are the best to know where our education system needs improvement. Design impactful and effective AI tools for education for a chance to win a TickTime Pomodoro Timer!<br><br>To give you some inspiration, we're sharing some educational and technical resources:<br><ul> <li> <a href="http://hackp.ac/schmidt-LE-challenges" target="_blank">This list</a> of the most pressing issues educational leaders have around AI <br> </li> <li>An introduction to the emerging field of <a href="http://hackp.ac/schmidt-LE-intro" target="_blank">Learning Engineering</a><br> </li> <li> <a href="http://hackp.ac/schmidt-ai-map" target="_blank">A map of AI in education</a><br> </li> <li>A <a href="http://hackp.ac/schmidt-LLM" target="_blank">recent competition series using LLMs</a> for automated essay evaluation<br> </li> </ul><br><br>

Best Use of Auth0

Best Domain Name from GoDaddy Registry

Eye Catcher (Best Duet)

Best DEI Hack sponsored by Fidelity

AgTech Track - 1st Place

Nintendo Switch Lite Wolfram|One Personal Edition plus a one-year subscription to Wolfram|Alpha Pro The world needs innovative solutions to feed a growing population with sustainable practices. AgTech is where technology meets agriculture, tackling challenges like resource scarcity, climate change, and food insecurity. By joining this hackathon track, you'll be at the forefront of creating solutions that can boost yields, optimize resource use, and improve farm management. Hacks in this track can be anything AgTech related.

AgTech Track - 2nd Place

Apple iPad 9th Generation Wolfram|One Personal Edition plus a one-year subscription to Wolfram|Alpha Pro The world needs innovative solutions to feed a growing population with sustainable practices. AgTech is where technology meets agriculture, tackling challenges like resource scarcity, climate change, and food insecurity. By joining this hackathon track, you'll be at the forefront of creating solutions that can boost yields, optimize resource use, and improve farm management. Hacks in this track can be anything AgTech related.

Health for Social Good Track - 1st Place

JBL Flip JBL Wireless Earbuds Air Up Steel Bottle Join our Health for Social Good track and make a real impact on global health disparities. Millions face barriers to essential healthcare due to poverty, geography, or discrimination. Your hacks can address these challenges and more, helping people better manage their health and access vital services. Make a difference in the lives of others with your innovative solutions in this track!

Health for Social Good Track - 2nd Place

Polaroid Camera Ducky Keyboard Bone Conduction Headphones Join our Health for Social Good track and make a real impact on global health disparities. Millions face barriers to essential healthcare due to poverty, geography, or discrimination. Your hacks can address these challenges and more, helping people better manage their health and access vital services. Make a difference in the lives of others with your innovative solutions in this track!

Spatial & Interactivity Track - 1st Place

Amazon Gift Cards Free annual subscription to Axure RP Team Wolfram|One Personal Edition plus a one-year subscription to Wolfram|Alpha Pro Technology is incredible! We can make a lot of things that we've never been able to make before. However, it's important that the technology we make today is interactive and inclusive to all. Things that you can see and touch make a long lasting effect to all of us and drives us to where we are today. Hacks in this track are projects that focus on interactivity and spatial technologies. This means anything that people can play around with! That ranges from GIS, AR/VR, and games!

Spatial & Interactivity Track - 2nd Place

Amazon Gift Cards AoPS Store $25 coupon Wolfram|One Personal Edition plus a one-year subscription to Wolfram|Alpha Pro Technology is incredible! We can make a lot of things that we've never been able to make before. However, it's important that the technology we make today is interactive and inclusive to all. Things that you can see and touch make a long lasting effect to all of us and drives us to where we are today. Hacks in this track are projects that focus on interactivity and spatial technologies. This means anything that people can play around with! That ranges from GIS, AR/VR, and games!

Continuation Award (Special Prize)

For the hack for the most potential, we are awarding $250 upfront to continue building the app, and we are giving $500 when the app is released to the public, within 2 months.