These are your Hesburgh Libraries Hackathon judges. Judges are selected from across campus and bring a range of skills and perspectives to the judging process.
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Idzik Computing and Digital Technologies Minor
Data Services Librarian
Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship
Hesburgh Libraries
Associate Teaching Professor
Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics
Software Engineer, AETL
Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society
Director, Civic Innovation Lab
Professor of the Practice,
Computer Science and Engineering
Each category has a weighted percentage that will be used to calculate the final score for each team.
| Category | Weight | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Innovation | 30% | The project should take a unique, interesting, and creative approach to solving the problem(s) identified by this year's theme. This criterion looks at novel or cutting-edge methods for user interaction, data manipulation and presentation, and use of new technology. |
| Impact | 30% | The proposed solution should have a significant impact in solving technological challenges posed by the theme of that year's hackathon. For example, solutions should aim to significantly improve the way users organize, communicate, schedule, or manage information, resources, or people. |
| Usability | 15% | Usability represents ease-of-use in engaging with content and services. The project should exemplify the highest standards of intuitive and elegant User Experience Design (UX). The project should easily, pleasantly, safely, and elegantly help users. |
| Technical Merit | 15% | The application was technically challenging to construct, requiring strong programming skills from the team. The team made wise choices in selecting conventional but creative components and libraries to construct the app. The complexity and elegance of the back-end matches the front-end. |
| Presentation | 10% | Through the final presentation, the team should clearly communicate the value of the project. The final product presentation should be professional, well-structured, and a meaningful exploration of the final product — not only what it can do but how it will benefit users. |
A special word about the use of AI
AI is both a disruptive force and necessary tool in the computing-related field. In this competition, we allow AI usage according to LEVEL FOUR (4) on the chart below. You may use AI to speed your work process, but should not simply ask an AI client to create and then blindly copy and deploy whole swaths of code, let alone an entire app! That practice is both unethical and dangerous and will negate any win awarded to a team discovered of using AI in this way.
You should also carefully cite how and how much AI you used in the project. We suggest putting this in .txt file in your repo.
The three main prizes for the Hesburgh Hackathon are awarded to teams who excel in all of the criteria on the judging rubric.
| Prize | Award |
|---|---|
| First Prize | $3,000 |
| Second Prize | $2,000 |
| Third Prize | $1,000 |
| Honorable Mention * | $500 |
* Judges may use their discretion in awarding an additional prize under the category of Honorable Mention. Winners of the first-, second-, and third-place prizes are not eligible for these prizes. These prizes are awarded to teams who may not have excelled in a majority of the criteria of the judging rubric but who may have shown exceptional skill in one criterion.
This year, Notre Dame's own CS for Good has sponsored an prize for projects based on...
Code Review for Winning Teams
This year, the winning teams will be asked to schedule a brief in-person meeting after the event to perform a light code review with the chairs of the Hackathon. This is not meant to add an onerous requirement, but to ensure a level playing field for all participants. Teams will be asked to show their code repo and explain how their application was built. Remember that all submitted code (excluding external libraries and packages) must have been written during the hackathon, and that all code complies with our policy on the acceptable use of AI. Contact the event chairs with any questions about these policies.
× Winner Payment Processing
Without exception, cash prizes are split equally by University Accounting among all team members. Please note that awards may be subject to taxation, depending on student status.
Winners Featured
All winning teams and their projects will be featured in the news section of the Hesburgh Libraries website and the Hesburgh Libraries Hackathon website.