Students from across the world come to MHacks to build amazing things, transform dreams into realities, and meet with other people with the passion to build their future. MHacks is for creators. Students spend 36 hours building anything they can imagine, and interact with technology visionaries, founders, and mentors. They meet with the hottest, most sought-after companies in the world who are vying for hackers' attention. For MHacks, students give up a weekend of partying to invest a weekend in their personal growth by learning something new and solving problems they see in the world. MHacks isn't just a hackathon -- it's a community of people who have ideas and build them.

Eligibility

Teams may include up to four members, five if one of the members is a member of the Adopt-a-Noob program.
All hacks must be built at MHacks IV by registered participants. Remote participation is not allowed.
Hackers may be of high school or college age.

Requirements

A valid submission is a software/hardware hack produced at MHacks IV within the provided rules.

This includes, but is not limited to, a valid ChallengePost submission to the MHacks IV event, preferably with video/images of the working product, as well as a live demo at your assigned table at the MHacks IV Expo.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$15,300 in prizes

Grand Prize

$4,000 for the team and a Parrot AR Drone for each team member.
From MLH & Dell: Dell Venue Android Tablets
Sponsored by Quixey

2nd Place

Myo Armband

3rd Place

Pebble Smartwatch

Most Technically Impressive

The Connected Car

Most Innovative

Best Use of Parse

Best Collaboration Hack

Most Innovative Financial Tech

Best Use of Bloomberg API

Best iOS App

iPad Mini
Sponsored by Apple

Best UX

Best Use of Microsoft Platforms (2)

1st Place - Surface Pro 3
2nd Place - $500
Must include either Azure or be a Windows Store or Windows Phone app
Sponsored by Microsoft.

Best User Experience

Technology on the Move

Smart Vehicles, Google Glass, Smart Watches, Drones and Mobile Apps - Anything that interacts with the physical world

Best Hack that Affects the Physical World

Most Disruptive

BIG DATA

Cash prize + Fitbit
Sponsored by State Farm

Best Use of Mobile Sensor Data

Sponsored by FarmLogs, backed by Drive Capital

Best UX using IBM Bluemix (3)

1st Place - Your team will enjoy a 2 day all expenses paid trip to Austin, TX, the home to the world-class IBM Design Studio! You’ll tour our fun and creative space, have 1:1 time with our team, get valuable feedback on your work, obtain career advice, visit the Watson Lab, and network with executives. We’ll put you up in a great hotel in the heart of downtown and make sure you get to try some fantastic Texas BBQ!
2nd Place - $500 + 10 hrs of 1:1 mentorship of portfolio/projects by industry professionals.
3rd Place - One year paid subscription to an IBM Bluemix account.
Sponsored by IBM Bluemix

Best Use of Yo

First-time Hacker Prize

Trip to Cal Hacks + Arduino Uno kit

Michigan++

Pebble Smartwatch

Funniest Hack

UDI drone

Best Game

UDI Drone

Greatest Societal Value

UDI Drone

Best Virtual Reality Hack

Google Cardboard

Best Use of Mashery API

Jumping Sumo Mini Drone
Sponsored by Mashery

Best Use of Myo

Myo Armband
Sponsored by Thalmic Labs

Makes Life Easier

LEGO Star Wars Death Start
Sponsored by Venmo/PayPal

Best Use of Twilio

Custom 4" action figures for everybody on the team
Sponsored by Twilio

Best Under 20 Prize

Best hacker under 20 years old will receive an Oculus DK2.
Sponsored by Thiel Foundation

Best Real-Time Hack (3)

1st, 2nd, and 3rd places win 6 months of bonfire plan

Best Use of SendGrid API

Parrot Mini AR Drones

Best Prize to enable commerce

Guaranteed Interview-Intern/Full Time - Sponsored by eBay, Inc.

Best Use of Ziggeo API

Hacker's choice of hardware of 4 Parrot MiniDrone Rolling Spiders, a mini iPad, or $300 in Amazon gift certificates. Sponsored by Ziggeo, Inc.

How to enter

All teammates must create ChallengePost accounts if they do not already exist.
Assign all teammates to a draft submission.
Make your app (any platform is accepted).
Produce your screenshots and/or video demo (posted on Youtube or Vimeo).
Submit your app.
There will be 2 demo sessions. Watch live.mhacks.org to get demo session and table assignments.
Stay tuned for judging announcements and final demos.

If you have technical questions for ChallengePost, go to the MHacks Cortex for assistance.

Judges

MHacks Judging Panel

Judging Criteria

Usefulness
Is the hack practical given its target audience? Is it something that the user base would actually use? Does it fulfill a need people have?
Originality
Is the hack more than just another generic social app? Does it do something entirely novel, or at least take a fresh approach to an old problem?
Technical Difficulty
Is the hack technically interesting or difficult? Is it just some lipstick on an API, or were there real technical challenges to surmount?
Polish / Design
Is the hack usable in its current state? Is the user experience smooth? Does everything appear to work? Is it well-designed?
#hellyeah
Does the hack have that x-factor?

Ann Arbor, MI, USA	Public
$15,300 in prizes	473 participants

MHacks IV Fall 2014

The Original Epic Hackathon - Round IV - Kicking off the 2014 MLH Season