One thousand of the brightest students in the world will spend 36 hours next weekend at the University of Waterloo — at the largest international hackathon in Canada.
Through sponsorship support, the student-led Hack the North is fully covering food and accommodation for the students and the majority of their travel expenses.
Hackathon experience
We’ve experienced first-hand the transformative experience that a hackathon can bring about through learning, collaborating and networking opportunities.Kevin Lau, co-founder and second-year Waterloo systems design engineering student
All-star support
Venture capitalist and Waterloo Engineering graduate Chamath Palihapitiya will give the keynote address and Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, will participate in a “fireside chat” with Pearl Sullivan, dean of Waterloo Engineering.
Other
events
include
“office
hours”
that
will
be
held
on
Saturday
for
participants
to
spend
10
minutes
meeting
with
successful
entrepreneurs,
including
Eric
Migicovsky,
a
Waterloo
systems
design
engineering
graduate
and
the
founder
of
Pebble
Technologies.
Along
with
its
size,
Hack
the
North
is
unique
because
the
event
doesn’t
have
a
specific
theme.
The
top
prizes
haven't
been
announced
in
order
to
avoid
placing
parameters
on
what
participants
develop,
points
out
co-founder
Liam
Horne,
a
Waterloo
computer
science
student.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what your experience is, you just need to show up and create something cool or awesome.Kartik Talwar, co-founder and third-year Waterloo science student
The
definition
of
just
what’s
cool
or
awesome
will
likely
be
vastly
different
for
the
teams
of
up
to
four
members. “A
lot
of
people
will
create
something
just
for
fun
and
to
make
people
laugh,”
says
Lau.
“At
the
other
end
of
the
spectrum
we’ve
seen
viable
and
successful
products
piloted
at
hackathons.”
Startup culture
With any luck, Waterloo Engineering's entrepreneurial environment will rub off on Hack the North participants — the Faculty’s start-up culture has helped create over 500 companies, including Pebble Technologies, Clearpath Robotics, Desire2Learn, Infusion and Thalmic Labs.
The Hack the North event has created an opportunity for our students and students from around the world to form relationships and work together to solve problems using technology.
Pearl Sullivan, dean of Waterloo Engineering
After
almost
a
year
since
work
on
the
event
began,
organizing
team
members
continue
to
wade
through
long
to-do
lists
and
attend
lengthy
meetings
without
getting
much
sleep
in
between. Still,
they’d
like
to
make
it
an
annual
event.
“That’s
the
plan,”
Lau
says
with
a
laugh.
“Our
goal
is
to
get
through
this
one
first
and
worry
about
the
logistics
of
next
year’s
event
later.”
Please note: During Hack The North, the E5 building will be closed to students other than those participating in the competition.