Dates

Hacking runs from Saturday, November 7, 2026 at 1:00pm ET to Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 11:00am ET. Submissions are due on Devpost by 11:00am ET on November 8. Judging takes place in person from 11:30am to 2:30pm, and winners are announced at the closing ceremony (3:00pm – 4:00pm).

Eligibility

This is an in-person student hackathon held at Binghamton University. Participants must be students and must attend in person. Teams may have up to 4 members.

Project and Submission Requirements

  • Projects must be started during hacking hours.
  • Source code must be available in a public repository (e.g. GitHub or GitLab).
  • Each team must indicate one track on submission and may win in only one track.
  • Teams must demo their project for the judges during the judging expo to be eligible for prizes.

AI Policy

AI tools are allowed, but we encourage you to use them as a learning tool rather than a crutch. Every team must accurately and honestly disclose how they used AI in their submission. If you can't explain the high-level design and functionality of your project to the judges, it will hurt your score.

Judging Criteria

  1. Originality — How original and creative was the project?
  2. Design — How well designed and implemented was the project?
  3. Utility / Impact — How much impact can this project have on people's lives?
  4. Execution — How well executed was the project?
  5. Technical Complexity — How impressive/diverse were the technologies used?

Prizes

Each of the 4 tracks awards a winning team $1,000 and a runner-up team $500, for a total prize pool of $6,000. Prize money is split evenly among team members (teams of 3 split $999 or $498). Due to university policies, prizes may be delivered up to several days after the hackathon.

Venue

We're guests in Binghamton University's Innovation Lab and Bartle Library complex — please treat the space with respect and stay in reserved HackBU areas. Failure to do so may result in disqualification and a ban from future HackBU events.

Code of Conduct

HackBU aims to create a welcoming, inclusive, and creative environment, and everyone — students, sponsors, faculty, organizers, and judges — agrees to this Code by attending. We take harassment very seriously. Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • Offensive verbal or written comments related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, social class, economic status, or veteran status.
  • Unwanted sharing of sexual images or any form of unwelcome sexual attention.
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, or inappropriate physical contact.

These rules apply in all HackBU forums (in person, in any transportation to a HackBU event, and our Discord) and to media created during the hackathon, including hacks, graphics, and text. The HackBU team reserves the right to remove anyone engaging in harassing, offensive, or otherwise disruptive behavior. If you are being harassed or made uncomfortable, reach out to an organizer — we're here to help.