DivHacks is Columbia University's premier student-led annual diversity hackathon. DivHacks strives to create an empowering and inspirational space for students who are historically underrepresented in the tech industry, addressing the systemic exclusion and erasure of those who exist outside the standard definition of what it means to be a computer scientist. Our goal is an experience that not only reimagines what diversity should look like in the tech industry but gives students the tools to use technology to implement change.

Rethinking Public Health
How can we lessen racial inequality in the healthcare system?
How can we create more affordable and accessible healthcare systems?
How is COVID-19 impacting public health? Who is being most affected by COVID-19?
How can we use technology to detect and resolve health issues?

Creating Inclusive Education
Now that education has become almost completely remote, how do we ensure it is accessible to all students?
How can we make online learning interactive and engaging?
How can we assist parents in homeschooling their children?
How can we mitigate inequalities in the college admissions process?

Planning Urban Spaces
How do we deal with growing populations in cities?
How can we address urban living’s negative impact on the environment?
How can we make the city’s resources more accessible to residents?
How can we make a city’s public transportation easier and more reliable for its residents?

Engaging the Community
How can we mobilize younger voters?
How can we disseminate information effectively and accurately?
What types of tools can we create to facilitate local activism?
How can we share stories of people with different backgrounds and spread empathy?

Eligibility

All students currently attending an accredited univeristy are welcome!

Teams can have a max of 4 members.

Requirements

1. All submissions must be in by 9 am ET Sunday October 25th.

2. Projects submitted for a prize:

Must be no more than 30% starter code

Must be started and completed during the event

Must submit a two minute video demoing your project. If it goes over two minutes, the judge will not watch the remaining time.

Can only be submitted to DivHacks. That is, you cannot double submit to another hackathon.

Must be submitted to one of our four main tracks. Add on prizes are optional.

3. If you just want to submit for swag, no need to select a prize category! You may submit anything you created over the weekend, even something you made in a workshop!

4. Beginner Hack is for a team with all people who have never hacked before. This will largely be evaluated based on what you learned, so be sure to talk about that in your video and your DevPost

5. The winners of the four tracks will be asked to present a live demo at closing. Please be ready to demo your work in a live format!

6. You may submit a Figma prototype or slide deck! These will be heavily considered for Best Design or Best Pitch! Version history must still show it was created during the event. You also will still have to submit to one of the main tracks!

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$6,250 in prizes

Best 'Rethinking Public Health' Hack

Selected based on pitch, design, creativity, and execution based on given track. Each member gets an Amazon Fire Tablet, Arduino Starter Kit, and $100 in Bugsee credits

Best 'Creating Inclusive Education' Hack

Selected based on pitch, design, creativity, and execution based on given track. Each member gets an Amazon Kindle, Roku Ultra Streaming Player, and $100 in Bugsee credits

Best 'Planning Urban Spaces' Hack

Selected based on pitch, design, creativity, and execution based on given track. Each member gets a Fujifilm Camera, 4-Pack TilePro, and $40 UberEats gift card, and $100 in Bugsee credits

Best 'Engaging the Community' Hack

Selected based on pitch, design, creativity, and execution based on given track. Each member gets a Fitbit Charge4, $50 UberEats gift card, and $100 in Bugsee credits

Best UI Design

Most aesthetically pleasing project, and can just be based on the front end design. Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card/member.

Best Beginner Hack

This prize goes to a team made of all beginners who showed the most growth and effort. Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card/member.

Best Pitch

Best proposal of a product addressing a problem space. Can be in the form of a prototype or a slide deck. Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card/member

Most Fun Hack

The team with the most fun or goofy hack! Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card/member

Most Unique Hack

The team with the most creative, out of the box hack! Prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card/member

Pinterest Anti-Racism Hack

The team that addresses racial issues the best in their project will each be awarded backpacks by Pinterest!

Pinterest Anti-Racism Hack Honorable Mention

Capital One: Best Financial Hack

Capital One: Best Financial Hack: Awarded to the team with the best financially organized pitch. $250 Amazon Gift Cards/member.

Best Use of Google Cloud

Build your hackathon project with a suite of secure storage, powerful compute, and integrated data analytics products provided by Google Cloud. See full list of products here: g.co/cloud. Each winning team member will receive a Google Nest Mini.

Best Domain Name from Domain.com

Register a domain using Domain.com during the weekend. Each team may submit one entry per person on the team. Each winning team member will receive a Domain.com branded backpack.

Best Hardware Hack Sponsored By Digi-Key

Build a hardware hack with what you have at home or use emulators to simulate hardware for your hack. The best project will receive Arduino Starter Kits for each team member.

Most Creative Radar.io Hack

Build the most creative hack using Radar's SDKs and APIs for geofencing, location search, and geocoding. Some ideas for location-aware projects include a delivery tracker, campus building locator, and a Find my Friends clone. Winning team members will be eligible to win a Tile Sticker Smart Tracker and a chance to be featured by Radar.

Best Use of DataStax

Blue Snowball Mic

Best Use of CockroachDB

3D Printing Pen

Judges

Carolina Armirola
Spotify

Lilian Schulz
GTS

Jennifer Zhou
GTS

Deanna Okuno
Pinterest

Mauricio Rivera
Pinterest

Austin Ward
Capital One

Foti Haztis
N26

Ashik Kabir
N26

Mark Sanolucito
Barnard Professor

Katheryn Brady
Barnard Post-Bac

Ivy Zhang
Haverford Student

Vivian Lu
Columbia PhD Student

Shyam Pandya
Columbia Ms Student

Vishnu Nair
Columbia PhD Student

Judging Criteria

Growth
Demonstrates that they learned something and explored new technical skills. Demonstrates their ability to problem solve in the face of challenges.
Concept
Identified a relevant problem facing our society. Demonstrates an understanding of the complexities of the problem. Proposes a unique and creative solution for this problem through tech.
Aesthetics and Design
Demonstrated effort to make it easy to use and navigate. Effort put into the visual aesthetic of the project.
Functionality
Does the project work? Can it be implemented at scale? Not applicable to submitted slide decks or prototypes!
Presentation
Demo video was understandable, well ordered, and explained the project clearly.
Track
Applies to the track and theme of DivHacks

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Hackathon sponsors

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Columbia DivHacks 2020