2018w.pennapps.comPennApps XVII - The Original College Hackathon

PENNAPPS ABOUT LEARN APPLY LOGISTICS SPONSOR About Learn Apply Logistics Sponsor Applications have closed! See you at PennApps! Hosted at the nation’s first university, PennApps is the original college hackathon. Come join us to learn something new, build an app, or start a company. Let’s continue to make history together! ABOUT THE COLLEGE HACKATHON In the context of a hackathon, the word "hack" is used to describe how multiple technologies can be used together in a new and innovative way. Teams of up to four people spend the weekend working on innovative software and hardware solutions to real-world problems. These projects range in platform and application, including elements of web development, mobile applications, drones, and more. However, many times the most important aspect of a hackathon is the community it generates and skills that inexperienced hackers walk away with. THE PENNAPPS DIFFERENCE Founded in the fall of 2009, PennApps was the nation’s first student-run college hackathon. Since then, it has spurred a revolution in the way engineering students develop and showcase their skills, spawning an entire "league" of hackathons across the nation. In past years, over a thousand students from the U.S. and other countries like Switzerland, Canada, England, and Singapore have converged in Philadelphia for the spring and fall editions of the event for a weekend of creation and discovery. Both beginners and experts alike will work together, learn and compete to become better engineers and work on awesome projects. This year, PennApps is expanding its focus on learning by emphasizing the collaboration of new and experienced hackers, and providing more learning opportunities and workshops throughout the weekend. CAMPUS AMBASSADORS At the end of every cycle, we ask the PennApps family if they would like to be a campus ambassador for PennApps. What this entails is spreading the word about PennApps at your local school, college or university. Campus ambassadors are an important part of the PennApps community and receive custom swag and perks at and before the event. Campus ambassadors applications are now open. LEARNING MENTORSHIP PennApps is built upon the idea that everyone can participate, from individuals who have never written a line of code to experts who have been developing for years. We have a number of resources available at PennApps, including workshops, hacker gurus, and the ability to request a mentor. If you are not sure where to start, the mentorship team holds tech talks, introductory guides, and more. We are here to help! The PennApps Mentorship team can be reached at learn@pennapps.com HARDWARE PennApps is partnering with Architechs again this year to let hackers get their hands dirty with hardware hacking. Whether you have vast experience with hardware or want to try it for the first time, our team of hardware volunteers will help you learn to use the cool gadgets we’re o ering to build something incredible. We will be providing access to laser cutters and 3D printers as well as having our hardware check-out station to help make your hack the best one out there. PennApps aims to provide a wide array of hardware to interested hackers. A list of our previous parts can be found here. If you have any suggestions for specific hardware you’d like to see this, fall, please fill out this form with our requests. If you have any specific inquiries, feel free to reach out to David W. at david@pennapps.com . ROUTES Routes will continue this spring to provide you with additional and incentive when you hack on specific themes or just cool things to be a part of in addition to your hack. Think of Routes as a series of forks you can take, each adjusting your final destination by a bit. The right combination will help make your hack that much better, and each one you choose to take could lead to a very special payoff. This cycle’s Routes will be announced soon. APPLY THE APPLICATION PROCESS Thousands of qualified candidates apply to participate in PennApps every year, however our space can only support a limited number of participants and as much as we’d like to take everyone, it just isn’t possible. We think that the fairest way to decide who we invite is by asking everyone to tell us a little bit about themselves, so that we can invite people who have demonstrated interest and skill. We don’t expect everyone to have been to a hackathon before, in fact, we love first-time hackers having been there ourselves when we started! We’re just trying to bring those who most want to really build something awesome and learn something new, and while we can’t invite everyone, we’re striving to continue building a community of diverse and amazing hackers at PennApps. Just show us what you’ve made, tell us about why you want to be at PennApps, and we’ll do our best to get you here! By growing to become the largest hackathon in the nation, we hope to double the number of people we can invite to PennApps, so get ready for a life-changing experience! LOGISTICS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS We know you have a lot of questions, so check below for some of the most common answers (and this document for even more) or drop us a line at contact@pennapps.com . Travel Hacking Applications Other How much will PennApps cost me? Not only will we provide you with a weekend’s worth of swag, meals, drinks, and snacks and a place to crash when you need a break from coding, we’ll even help cover your travel. Once I am accepted, what do I need to bring? Need: Laptop and charger, cellphone and charger, sleeping bag, pillow, toiletries, a couple changes of clothes (nerdy shirts are particularly appreciated). Consider bringing clothes that can get wet (I can neither confirm nor deny there may or may not be a water fight ) Don’t need: a pre-determined team, an idea for an app, food or drink. Please don’t bring: Firearms or other weapons, alcohol, illegal drugs, soldering or similar equipment, animals (no matter how adorable). How do reimbursements work? When you’re accepted, we’ll have a page where you can submit your required travel reimbursement forms and receipts. For each location hackers will be coming from, we’ll determine a reasonable cap. We will reimburse travel costs up to this cap—if you go over, we’ll still reimburse the amount of the cap, but no more. When/Where can I hack? PennApps will start with the kick-off ceremony at Penn Engineering Quad. There will be events planned throughout the day for those who arrive early. A detailed schedule of events and locations will be posted later. All work eligible for prizes must be completed between Friday night after the kick-off and Sunday morning. What can I win? It’s not about winning—it’s about learning and making friends that last for a lifetime (so everyone’s a winner!). If you’re thinking, "that’s adorable...but really," then we’ve got you covered too. A panel of professional judges will select the top three hacks based on the following criteria: creativity, technical difficulty, polish, and usefulness. Top prizes are TBA, but usually involve thousands of dollars and insane perks from company sponsors. Most sponsors offer their own prizes too for specific categories, which they judge and fund themselves. We had well over $40k worth of prizes up for grabs last time including Nintendo Switches and Oculus Rifts, if you like numbers. I’m interested in using hardware for my hack? You’re in luck! We have a whole team of organizers devoted to hardware. Check out the hardware section to see what they have planned. What’s the application process like? We’re looking for creative and innovative people with a set of skills that can contribute to a project - mobile, web, hardware, design, or anything else really cool. We generally prefer people that have proven their abilities in previous projects, evident through links, project descriptions, Github profiles, video demos or participation/awards in other hackathons. We don’t require that...