HackBU 2026 Information

As of today, HackBU 2026 is only three days away! Here we’re going to talk about a few important things:

• How to get to the hackathon
• Schedule of events and meals
• How to submit your project
• Rules and policies

Getting to the Hackathon

The hackathon will take place in the Innovative Technologies Complex (ITC), a short walk away from the main campus. If you aren’t comfortable walking, we highly recommend carpooling if possible. Otherwise, we will have two walking groups from the Union at 11am and 11:30am Saturday, March 7th.

There are two viable routes:

(Image courtesy Google Maps)

Your first option is to walk by the East Gym, then cross Murray Hill Road. If you prefer, you can instead leave the main campus behind the Newing Community, then cross the bridge near Newman House and walk along the road.

When you arrive, please enter through this door:

(Image courtesy Google Maps)

Note that this is the door to the Engineering and Science Building. There are three main levels to the ITC, and this entrance is on the highest. Other doors will probably be locked, and you should not attempt to enter them.

Schedule of Events & Meals

We will detail the full schedule during the opening ceremony, but here are the important points:

Saturday, March 7th

• 11am:
  • Check-in opens. If you did not register in advance, you will be allowed to do late registration.
  • You will be provided with a map of the venue. Please do not go outside the indicated areas.
  • You will also receive a paper bracelet, to indicate your meal group.
• 12am:
  • The Opening Ceremony begins in the Symposium Hall. We will review our policies, provide the complete schedule, and introduce our sponsors.
• 1pm:
  • The competition begins: you can begin your project!
  • We will hold a team-making event in the Symposium Hall
  • Representatives from Visions FCU will give a workshop on Stride Threat Modelling .
  • A catered lunch will be available. You will be called up by the color of your wristband.
• 5pm:
  • Jack Fischer will provide a talk in the Symposium Hall: Startups and Building Your Own Adventure.
• 7pm (approximate):
  • A catered dinner will be provided. You will be called up by the color of your wristband.

Sunday, March 8th

• 2am:
  • Daylight savings enters into effect, meaning that it is actually 3am.
• 9:30am:
  • A light breakfast will be available. This is the last meal that will be provided.
• 12pm:
  • The competition will end. All your materials will need to be submitted by this time.
• 1pm:
  • Members will begin demonstrating their projects to our team of judges.
• 4pm:
  • The Closing Ceremony will begin, during which we will announce the winners.

Submitting your project

Project submissions will be made through DevPost, a common platform for administering hackathons. Instructions for submitting a project are available here. Consider that you will have to have your submission complete when the competition ends, not just your project.

You will be required to provide source code for your projects. This means that your source code must be available on a public server like Github/lab so that we can vet and verify your submission. In addition, we recommend making frequent Git commits, to demonstrate your progress throughout the weekend.

Rules, Policies, and Prizes

All attendees will agree to the Hackbu 2025−2026 Code of Conduct. If you are in violation of this code you will be asked to leave the premises. If you believe another person is in violation of the code, please contact an organizer as soon as possible.

• In particular: We do not reserve the entire ITC. Please remain in the designated areas at all times.

Competition Rules

You may compete as an individual, or as a group of up to 4 members. The number of members in your group will not affect your individual prizes.

All submitted code must be either original or clearly credited. Plagiarised and uncredited code will be grounds for disqualification.

Use of AI

We do not expressly forbid the use of Large Language Models (LLMs). However, we ask that all use of AI be clearly documented in your submission and when discussing your project with the judges, who will make the final recommendations regarding your project.

• We recommend that you avoid the use of AI coding assistants. By reducing your cognitive load, you reduce the benefits you gain from this experience.
• This does not apply to projects with human-made code that use AI/LLM endpoints or APIs.

Prizes

There will be five (5) prize categories. Winners will be decided by a weighted vote from our judges. If a project wins in a category, each member of the team will receive a $100 Amazon gift card. Due to university policies, these prizes will be provided some days after the hackathon.

• Projects may only win in a single category.
• You do not need to formally indicate your intention to participate in a prize category, as the nominations will be performed by our judges. However, you may wish to clarify the goals of your project during your group’s demonstration for the Personal Finance and User Interface categories.

Best Overall Hack: This prize will be awarded to the best-scoring group. There is no theme, so make whatever you like! All groups will be eligible.

Best Personal Finance Hack: Sponsored by Visions FCU, this prize will be awarded to the best-scoring project nominated for the category by a majority of judges. Projects that encourage financial education or are themselves a personal finance tool will be considered (automatic receipt scanner, anyone?).

Best User Interface Hack: Sponsored by Rubenstein Ventures, this prize will be awarded to the best-scoring project nominated for the category by a majority of judges. Projects that demonstrate creative, unique, and innovative user interfaces/experiences will be considered

Best Harpur Hack: Sponsored by Binghamton Codes, this prize will be awarded to the best-scoring project by a team majorily composed of non-Watson students: if more than 50% of your team is from another college, you are automatically eligible.

• Students from other universities count as Watson students for these purposes if they are in an engineering program.

Best Beginner Hack: This prize will be awarded to the best-scoring group who meets the following criteria:

• This is the first hackathon attended by each member of the group
• All members of the group are undergraduates.

Questions

Any questions or concerns should be directed to hello@hackbu.org, or posted in our Discord server.