Canada's largest student-led hackathon returned to the University of Waterloo for its annual weekend of intense innovation. More than 1000 student hackers from around the world gathered at the Faculty of Engineering to experience 36 hours of fast builds and fun games.
In keeping with the Hack the North motto, Dream Big and Build, this year's student organizing team added exciting new elements to pull people together and encourage more play. These included the inaugural Waterloo Tech Week, Goose Games and an attempt to break a Guinness World Record which succeeded!
Now in its 12th year, Hack the North is a marquee event in the hackathon world, thanks largely to the student organizers who put a lot of effort into delivering a memorable experience each year. As opportunities for builders to build increase though, this year's team knew they had to do something special to ensure Hack the North stays at the forefront of student-led innovation.
"We felt that hackathons just aren't fun anymore," Jasmine Jiang, Hack the North co-director and Waterloo Arts student, said. "They're too focused on winning the biggest prize or networking with as many sponsors as possible so we set out to rebalance things toward joy, community and creative risk."
What was new this year
Hack the North is free to attend but it's not open to the public it's officially capped at 1000 participants, with a bit of wiggle room, and the application process is strict. To give more people access to the tech community, the organizers used the days leading up to the hackathon to host the first-ever Waterloo Tech Week. The city buzzed with energy as industry-led panels, meetups and workshops welcomed everyone from high-school students to startup founders.
The hackathon itself kicked off with a communal activity to break the Guinness World Record for the most people in a single venue building interlocking plastic brick sculptures simultaneously.
Pitched as a shared "we did this together" moment to kick off the event's build sprint, people dove into the activity with gusto and broke the record with much cheering.
Headlining the event was keynote speaker Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, the software creation platform that makes app-building easy, a much-used tool among hackers.
This year also saw the introduction of Goose Games challenges and puzzles that popped up throughout the event, essentially gamifying the entire experience and getting attendees to interact and play in ways they hadn't expected.
These missions popped up where you least expected them on a whiteboard near a workshop, tucked into a QR code by a staircase nudging teams to meet new people and try a tool they hadn't planned to use.
Getting people to connect was further encouraged by the introduction of an ambient lounge to give people a relaxed space in which to meet and talk. The organizers also reintroduced the project showcase so that attendees could see what's being built and share ideas with other builders.
Paying it forward
Waterloo Engineering dean Dr. Mary Wells joined Hack the North co-founders Kartik Talwar, Kevin Lau and Liam Horne to welcome the newest recipients of the Pearl Sullivan Hack the North Scholarship.
Dean Wells (first row, second from right) with Hack the North co-founders and student participants at this year's event.
Established in 2022 by Talwar, Lau and Horne in honour and remembrance of the late Dr. Pearl Sullivan, Waterloo Engineering's first woman dean and an early champion of Hack the North, this award supports University of Waterloo undergraduate students who have attended or participated in Hack the North and demonstrate a commitment to building tech and community.
Support that scales
Hackers can form teams of up to four or choose to do a solo hack and are encouraged to submit their builds for judging. It's not a traditional competition setup in that there's no first, second or third place.
Out of this year's 256 submissions, 32 projects stood out to the judges for their creative exuberance and functionality with 12 chosen as finalists at the closing ceremony. Afterwards the hackers ate cake and mingled with the judges at Hacky Hour.
Waterloo Engineering alum Ryan Gariepy, VP at Rockwell Automation, judged this year's event and was impressed by the hackers' focus on building useful things.
"They weren't building business pitch decks," Gariepy said "They were solving problems, even small ones, building fast, testing and trying again. These skills are invaluable. And I enjoyed the collaborative, playful energy hackers, mentors, even judges were all there to learn, contribute and have fun."
After 14 years, Hack the North remains proudly student-run and focused on giving builders a weekend of unfettered creativity supported by mentors, industry partners and the world-class facilities of Waterloo Engineering.
"It's simple really, bring together curious people, give them the space and tools to create, leave the brief wide open, and make it fun," Ian Korovinsky, Hack the North co-director and Waterloo Engineering student, said.
"Hack the North is where first-time hackers and seasoned builders share tables and where projects can start as a joke on Friday and turn into a demo that wows a tech leader by Sunday."
