MorganHacks is a weekend-long hackathon that would bring together hundreds of students from around the globe to work on innovative software and/or hardware projects. We are inviting students from different backgrounds to the campus of Morgan State University, the largest HBCU in Maryland, to collaborate and innovate as part of our aim to create ideas and initiatives that shape culture, on the weekend of April 6th and 7th.
This year, MorganHacks will be in-person, and from the start, students will be empowered with the resources to research and come up with exciting technology projects.
Requirements
You can hack into one of the SIX tracks or impact areas we've created. The best hack in each track will win a prize.
Additionally, there will be a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for overall best hacks.
TRACKS
Education:
Description:
- The focus of the education track is to innovate around learning, especially by leveraging the power of technology, both for students and teachers. Projects in this track will not only define the possibilities for the future of learning but also encourage the art of learning while making education more accessible to every type of learner.
Guiding Questions:
- How can we utilize technology to close equity gaps in education i.e. support students of all backgrounds and enable universal access to quality education?
- How can we use technology to improve collaboration in schools?
- How can we make technology that enhances learning and retains the safety of students?
- How can we create technology that easily integrates remote learning with in-person learning without compromising the quality of the learning experience?
New Frontiers:
Description:
This track focuses on using new and emerging technologies such as AI/ML, AR/VR, Blockchain, Web 3, Quantum Computing, and more to create innovative solutions. We expect to see the power of new technology in creating the experiences of the future.
Guiding Questions:
- How can we incorporate AR and VR into the metaverse?
- How can we make machine learning more transparent and accessible, especially to non-programmers?
- How can we develop new decentralized technologies that empower ordinary people?
- How can we make financial transactions seamless, secure and more transparent?
Health:
Description:
This track is dedicated to improving the entire healthcare system. From accessibility to inclusion, health is a basic component of life and living and should be prioritized. As such, we expect to see projects that would re-imagine the current healthcare system while leveraging technology.
Guiding Questions:
- How can we close equity gaps in the healthcare industry by utilizing technology?
- How can we use technology to incorporate healthy living into people’s day-to-day life?
- How can we create scalable technology that can augment inadequate medical personnel?
Sustainability & Social Impact:
Description:
There is no better time to create a better future for our planet than now. This track would address issues around creating a safe & sustainable environment. From energy to transportation, justice tech, and even climate change, there is freedom to innovate and make your project address these issues.
Guiding Questions:
- How can we use technology to monitor our habits and behaviors?
- How can we make our current technology more sustainable?
- How can we use technology to incentivize sustainable behaviors?
- How can we use technology to fight crime and advocate for justice in our communities?
Robotics:
Description:
The Robotics track aims to explore advancements in robotics technology, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in automation and human-machine interaction. Participants will delve into topics such as autonomous systems, robot-assisted processes, and human-robot collaboration, with the goal of developing innovative solutions that revolutionize industries and enhance human capabilities.
Guiding Questions:
- How can robotics technology be applied to streamline manufacturing processes and increase efficiency?
- What are the potential benefits and challenges of integrating robots into everyday life, such as in healthcare or household tasks?
- How can robots be designed to adapt to dynamic environments and perform complex tasks autonomously?
- What ethical considerations should be taken into account when developing and deploying robotic systems?
Entertainment:
Description:
The Entertainment track explores the intersection of technology and creativity, aiming to redefine how we consume and interact with entertainment content. Participants will have the opportunity to develop innovative solutions in areas such as gaming, virtual reality, and digital media production, with a focus on creating immersive and engaging experiences for audiences.
Guiding Questions:
- How can emerging technologies such as AR and VR be leveraged to create immersive entertainment experiences?
- What role can AI and machine learning play in personalizing content recommendations and enhancing user engagement?
- How can interactive storytelling techniques be used to captivate audiences and foster deep emotional connections?
- What are the ethical implications of using advanced technologies in entertainment, such as deepfakes or algorithmic content creation?
Prizes
Top Three Hacks
Top three teams (regardless of track) will receive the following:
1. $4000 (+ MLH Winner Pins)
2. $2000 (+ MLH Winner Pins)
3. $1500 (+ MLH Winner Pins)
Ripple: XRPL Finance Challenge:
Utilize XRPL and/or its new EVM Sidechain to develop a finance app. The app may encompass decentralized finance (DeFi), such as decentralized exchanges, lending, etc., or focus on enhancing payment systems with solutions for cross-border transactions, micropayments, tokenized payments, and digital wallets. Additionally, the solution may explore areas such as insurance technology (InsurTech), regulatory technology (RegTech), asset management, financial inclusion, personal finance tools, supply chain finance, crowdfunding, digital identity, sustainable finance, and risk management within the app.
$250 USD Gift Card per person (Total of up to $1k USD for team of 4)
Best .Tech Domain Name
Prize: Blue Snowball Microphone & a Free .Tech Domain Name for Life!
Make your Team's Achievements timeless: Win a .Tech Domain Name for Life to Showcase and Expand Your Project, Plus 4 Blue Snowball Mics for Effortless Collaboration on Zoom, empowering you to build even more cool things together!
Sauce Labs Raffle
Prize: Sauce Labs Backpack and Beanie
Sauce Labs empowers you to develop, test, and deliver top-tier web and mobile apps quickly and efficiently. Their unified platform makes automated testing and error monitoring easy to do, enabling you to save time building your hackathon project! Let Sauce Labs help resolve any issues with your code so you can get back to building an award winning hack.
Make sure your project is hackathon-tested by signing up for a Sauce Labs account and running at least one test on the platform. Include a screenshot of your test results in your project submission to get entered into the Sauce Labs raffle for a chance to win a backpack, beanie, and a bottle of Sauce Labs' famous hot sauce for you and each of your team members!
Best Use of TinyMCE
Prize: 3D Printing Pen
TinyMCE is a rich-text editor that allows you to create formatted content within a hacker-friendly interface. Adding a Rich Text Editor component has never been easier! Alongside functionality like bold, italics, underlines, hyperlinks, or titles (to name a few), the editor also allows users to enable HTML tags, MarkDown or CSS. TinyMCE even gives you the ability to edit your text elements directly with no code, similar to the way you would edit a word document but with even more practical hackathon use cases.
TinyMCE also has dozens of plugins that allow developers to customize their user’s experience. From implementing accessibility checkers, autocorrect, and enhanced image editing to utilizing emoticons, adding responsive design with auto resize and even a ChatGPT AI Assistant. If your hackathon project accepts ANY type of text input, you can use TinyMCE to take it to the next level.
Signup for TinyMCE for a free trial and get started today, no credit card required! To qualify for the Best Use of TinyMCE prize category, be sure to render the editor with a Tiny Cloud account for a chance to win a 3D Printing Pen for you and each of your team members!
Best Use of PropelAuth
Prize: Wacom Tablet
PropelAuth makes it easy for hackers to add authentication and user management to their projects. If you’re looking to save time and effort on building a signup and login feature for your hack, PropelAuth is a great option for you and your team. Customize your login’s User Interface, from the color scheme and logo, to the login options you present to your users! PropelAuth provides a ton of options for configuration. PropelAuth is also supported across more than a dozen popular frameworks and languages including React, Node.js, Python, Django, Go, Rust, and Flask among others. Get started today and integrate PropelAuth to your hackathon project for a chance to win some awesome prizes for you and your teammates!
Best DEI Hack sponsored by Fidelity
Prize: Fidelity Branded Wireless Charger
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!
Best Use of Kintone
Prize: Breadboard IoT Kit
Still not sure what backend to use in your hack? Kintone is a low-code web database that lets you set up your backend in minutes. It's beginner friendly, allowing you to customize your Kintone app using nothing but JavaScript and HTML. Your team can snag a FREE microcontroller by signing up for Kintone and visiting the MLH table, and if you use Kintone in your hackathon project, you'll have a chance to win a breadboard IoT kit to power up the hardware hacking for each member of your team!
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Vivek Mirsha
Chase
Sumit Bhatnagarl
Chase
James Genus
Microsoft
Jailynn Robinson
Microsoft
Sophia Green
Microsoft
Jack Kaiser
Microsoft
Ibrahim Abdus-sabur
Judging Criteria
-
Multi-Stage Judging
Teams are split into three groups, and then present to the judges. The top 2 are picked from each group and then present to all the judges. You will be judged in 4 different categories. 1. Tech 2. UIUX 3. Closeness to category 4. Wow factor
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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