Hackathon: Designing Change for a Living Planet

Saturday, March 24, 2018 1:30 pm - 7:30 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

WWF Panda with "Connect, Create, Innovate" superimposed on top

Disruptive innovations are quickly changing our daily lives, including how we shop, share, bank, commute, learn, access entertainment, and connect with others. Many of these, such as paperless banking or bike sharing, can help improve local and global sustainability.

What’s the next disruptive innovation that can steer us toward a more sustainable future?

If you think you have an answer to that question, join WWF Canada and sustainability professionals in an inter-campus hackathon to represent the University of Waterloo!

You'll be able to:

  • Create and innovate with fellow students
  • Compete with other campuses for a $1200 team prize!
  • Receive mentoring for winning team
  • Network with professionals from different industries
  • Build your resume with this unique experience

Students are challenged to put together a team to think about the next big innovation that is going to shift us to a more sustainable future. The Sustainability Office will select the top team to represent Waterloo at the WWF-Canada headquarters in Toronto on the day of Earth Hour, March 24th.


 

How to apply

Build a team of four to six students.

  • You can have a maximum of two students from any one faculty
  • You must have students from at least three different faculties

2. Create a proposal

  • Give an overview of up to 3 ideas you would like to explore that answer the question above
  • Include brief bios for group members (i.e. program of study, year, relevant skills or experience)
  • Keep it to 2 pages max length, saved as a pdf
  • Send it to sustainability@uwaterloo.ca with the subject "Hackathon: Team Name" by March 13 at 4:30pm. Deadline for submissions has been extended until March 16 at 4:30PM

​Note: The ideas you submit are welcome to change at the actual hackathon based on what you learn. For now, we just want to see your creativity and critical thinking skills.

Internal selection

To pick the top team that Waterloo is sending to the finals, submissions will be graded on:

  • Creativity of idea(s)
  • Relevance to sustainability
  • Persuasiveness
  • Submission quality
  • Team strength and diversity

The successful team will be notified by Friday, March 16th at 4:30pm Monday March 19 at 4:30pm and we will work with you to arrange travel and any other details to the finals.