What is a hackathon?

A hackathon is a building sprint where teams of students and community members build new products or hack at an existing problem. The event engages design, development, and marketing talent, and allows students to discover solutions that work.  Participants pitch final projects at the end of a specified period to a panel of university and community leaders in hopes of creating the winning solution to help beat a specific COVID-19 problem. 

What is the format for the Hack COVID-19 hackathon?

Round 1: May 8 - 10 | Students will explore COVID-19-related problems, and develop a clear design for solving a problem. 

  • Deliverable: PPT and video describing the problem and solution.
  • Submission Deadline: Sunday, May 10, 8 AM
  • Judging: Review of online submission.
  • Selection of Finalists: Sunday, May 10, 5 PM

Round 2: May 11 - 16 | Finalists will work on refining the project design and presentation of the solution. 

  • Deliverable: PPT + video describing the project and the plan to make it  a market-ready product.
  • Submission Deadline: Friday, May 15, 5 PM
  • Judging: Review of online submission + live Q&A with judges via Zoom (Saturday, May 16, Time TBD). Finalist teams must be available Saturday, May 16 for Zoom Q&A discussions.
  • Selection of Winners: Saturday, May 16, 5 PM

Is the HACK COVID-19 hackathon entirely virtual?

Yes, Hack COVID-19  will be entirely virtual. We will heavily rely on Devpost, and will also be using Google Drive, Slack and Zoom. 

What are the prizes?

Each winning team will receive a $10,000 cash prize, the opportunity to take their solution to market through Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X Startup Launch accelerator, and other potential investment opportunities.

Will you help with team formations or do we need to register as teams?

Students will register individually on Devpost. There will be an opportunity between registration and the end of the first day of the hackathon to form teams using the participants page on Devpost. You can simply review bios of other participants and send a team request. 

If you already have a team, please go ahead and register individually. You can then complete the Hack Team Form to let us know your team members and the problem you selected. 

Can I work alone, without a team?

No, you must work with a team of up to 6 people, at least one team member from Emory Univeristy and one from Georgia Tech. If you are unable to find a team using the Devpost participants page or Slack, please email eghi.gt.hack@gmaill.com.

We have students/people who are not Emory/GT-affiliated who would like to participate. Can they?

No, every team must be made up of Emory University or Georgia Tech students only (including May 2020 graduates).  Each team must have at least one student from each school.

Participants from other schools or alumni (aside from May 2020 grads) are not eligible to participate. Incoming fall 2020 students are also not eligible. 

What is CREATE-X Startup Launch?

CREATE-X Startup Launch is a 12-week accelerator program that will occur virtually this summer. Once Startup Launch begins this summer, each winning HACK COVID-19 team will automatically receive a $4,000 grant, as well as legal, accounting, design, and cloud computing services.

If I'm already participating in CREATE-X Startup Launch, can I still participate?

Yes, you can still compete for the cash prize even if you already have a place in the Startup Launch accelerator.

What are the hack tracks?

  • Transmission/Personal Protective Equipment
  • Social Distancing
  • Workplace Impact
  • Supply Chain
  • Healthcare Delivery
  • Testing
  • Contact Tracing
  • Other
  • More details here.