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Ohio Union, Columbus, Ohio
November 19 - 20, 2016

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HackOHI/O 2016: Powered by Amazon Web Services.

About Stats Events Prizes Schedule FAQs Sponsors Mentor

Welcome to Columbus

On November 19^th, join us at HackOHI/O—the Ohio State University's largest hackathon—for a weekend of building and creating real projects with awesome people. Over 700 undergraduate and graduate students will design, build, and demonstrate projects to a live audience of students, faculty, and representatives from tech companies. HackOHI/O is put on by OHI/O, a student-led organization at Ohio State that aims to foster a tech culture at our university.

Meet great people.

Learn something new.

Build something amazing.

Meet other passionate, fun and creative students from OSU and universities across the nation. Our industry partners are also sending professional developers, designers, marketers, and hustlers to provide mentorship.

Stats

Hours

700+

Hackers

40+

Schools Represented

100+

Judges & Mentors

$8k+

Worth of Prizes

17k+

Sq. Ft. of Space

Pre-Hype Events

OHI/O, our partnering student organizations, and our sponsors are hosting a series of great events leading up to the hackathon. These events include tech talks, workshops, and social gatherings that help students prepare for the hackathon, gather ideas, and build teams!

9/21/2016

Microsoft Coding Competition

6:00 - 8:00 PM @ Tech Hub

9/23/2016

How to Use Sketch 3 to Design a Winning Idea

7:00 - 8:00 PM @ Dreese Labs 264
Workshop by Sean Doran

9/26/2016

UI Architecture for Web Dev

6:30 - 7:30 PM @ Dreese Labs 264
Workshop by Kevin Mack

10/7/2016

Fall Picnic + Team Formation Social

5:30 - 7:30 PM @ Dreese Labs Lobby
Come to ACM-W's annual fall picnic for a chance to meet new people, brainstorm ideas and recruit teammates for the upcoming hackathon.

10/17/2016

User Experience (UX) with Abercrombie & Fitch

7:00 - 8:00 PM @ Dreese Labs 264
Join UX researchers Theresa and Tanya from Abercrombie & Fitch as they talk about designing a good user experience and their work.

10/26/2016

Introduction to Swift for iOS (Link)

6:00 - 8:00 PM @ Campbell Hall 100
Learn iOS development with Swift! Please register here. A Mac with the latest macOS release, along with Xcode and an Applie ID, are needed.

10/31/2016

Team Formation Social

7:00 - 8:00 PM @ 18th Avenue Library Room 090
Come find your hackathon dream team at this team-building social!

11/2/2016

Paxata Tech Talk: ES2015 and the next generation of JS languages

7:00 - 8:00 PM @ Dreese Labs 264
Now that the new spec for Javascript has been released it is time to catch up! During this presentation we will look at the changes to both the code and the ecosystem brought on by ES2015. We will explore how it will change frameworks like D3, Angular and React. Finally, we will explore how Paxata is working to upgrade from a legacy Angular 1 world to the promise of and Angular 2 one powered by Typescript.

11/7/2016

How to Hack a Tesla and Coding with the Artisan

5:30 - 7:30 PM @ Pillar Technology
Learn how ideas become reality at The Forge by Pillar! Hacking Tesla, autonomous tractors, and more. Please RSVP here.

11/9/2016

Women, Wine & Web Design

6:00 - 8:00 PM @ Rev 1 Ventures
Join Tech Elevator and CoverMyMeds for a two hour beginner workshop to learn about the fundamental tools of front-end development (HTML & CSS) and build out your very own web page! Wine provided; don't need to be 21 to attend.

11/14/2016

Buckeye Hackers: Team and Idea Formation

7:00 - 8:00 PM @ 18th Avenue Library 070
Come join Buckeye Hackers for team formation and idea hashing!

11/17/2016

Wikipedia in Your Next Project

7:00 - 8:00 PM @ Caldwell Labs 120
Presented by Wikipedia Connection and Open Source Club.

Prizes

We're pleased to announce that our top ten places will when HackOHI/O trophies. In addition, we have eight category winners who will take home the prizes listed below.
A thank you to Hyland and Pillar for providing HackOHI/O with prizes.

Raspberry Pi 3
Ultimate Starter Kit

Best Hardware Hack

BB Sphero w/ Arm Band

Best Software Hack

Go Pro Hero Session

Most Impactful Application

Amazon Echo

Best Designed Hack

Phototonic

Most Original Hack

Apple Watch

Most Ambitious Hack

Lego Mindstorm

Share the Load

Hubsan Quadcopter

Best New Hack

Schedule

Here's the schedule for HackOHI/O 2016! Note that things may change slightly leading up to the event.

Saturday, November 19th

Time	Event	Location
8:00 AM	Doors open; student and sponsor check-in; team-building event	2nd floor, outside Ballroom
10:00 AM	Opening keynote	Ballroom
11:00 AM	Hacking begins!	Ballroom / Great Hall
12:00 PM	Lunch	Ballroom / Great Hall
2:15 PM	Esri Talk	Maudine Cow Room (Basement)
4:00 PM	Yoga with Ohio State's Counseling and Consultation Service	Dance Room 1 (Basement)
6:00 PM	Dinner	Ballroom / Great Hall
7:00 PM	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Tech Talk and Panel	Maudine Cow Room (Basement)
11:30 PM	Lockdown

Saturday Long-Term Activities

Time	Event	Location
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Relaxation Lounge: Arts, Games, and Yoga	Dance Room 1 (Basement)
11:00 AM - 11:00 PM	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Networking Event	Dance Room 2 (Basement)
11:00 AM - 8:00 PM	Microsoft Xbox Lounge	Arts and Crafts Room

Sunday, November 20th

Time	Event	Location
7:00 AM	Lockdown ends
9:00 AM	Teams register for judging	West Ballroom / Great Hall
9:30 AM	Brunch	West Ballroom / Great Hall
11:00 AM	Hacking ends	Ballroom / Great Hall
11:30 AM	Judging begins	Ballroom
1:30 PM	Judging ends	Ballroom
2:30 PM	Showcase begins	Performance Hall
4:30 PM	Showcase ends	Performance Hall

FAQs

Here are some common questions that people ask. If you have any additional questions please contact us at hackathon@osu.edu.

What is a hackathon?

A hackathon is a fun 24 or 36 hour event that brings together multi-disciplinary students with varying experience from across the nation together to create, innovate, and build a project all within one weekend. Students have access to professional mentors, workshops, and loaner hardware during the event. They also have the opportunity to showcase and demo their work projects to judges and other exposition attendees at the end of the event.

What sort of projects do people make?

All sorts of things! Previous projects have included mobile apps, websites, smart mirrors, light-up glasses, pancake printers...the possibilities are endless.

But... I don't know how to code!

Not to worry! HackOHI/O provides opportunities for first-time programmers. From workshops, to resources to mentors and teammates, you'll be sure to pick up skills over the weekend. Past that, teams need more than just coders and great projects always start with diverse teams. Everyone has some knowledge and perspective they can bring to the table.

Is it free? What about food?

HackOHI/O is free to participate in! We'll be providing you with great meals, snacks, and drinks throughout the entire event. We've got participants' food restrictions covered, too.

Who can participate?

Anyone who is a student at a university! We encourage all levels of expertise to join. Whether this is your first hackathon, or you've been to hackathons around the nation, HackOHI/O provides an opportunity to collaborate and create something amazing. All participants are expected to follow our Code of Conduct.

Anyone is welcome to attend our Sunday showcase, where our winners will present their projects. Please register if you plan on attending!

What should I bring?

Bring a laptop, a phone, some comfy clothes, appropriate chargers, and toiletries! Remember your toothbrush and paste. Leave any pre-written code at home; your projects should be started and completed at the hackathon.

What if I don't have a team?

No worries! OHI/O provides opportunities before and during the hackathon to find a team. We currently have a team formation group on Facebook, which you are welcome to join. We'll be posting more information on team formation events in our newsletters and on our social media accounts - be on the lookout!

How large can teams be?

All participants should be in teams of 2 to 4. We hope to encourage teamwork while keeping team sizes manageable for a 24 hour event.

Do I have to have an idea?

Nope! Many students come up with an idea at the hackathon. By talking to fellow students and coming to our pre-hype events, you'll find opportunities to join an idea that piques your interest. If you get stuck, we'll have a nice list of ideas to help you out.

Can I mentor?

Yes! We welcome individuals with knowledge and expertise in various topic areas to help mentor students at HackOHI/O. If you're interested, please fill out this form.

When will I be notified of acceptance?

We're currently in the process of reviewing all applicants and sending acceptances out in waves through the beginning of November. Stay tuned - if you've registered, you will receive an email in due time!

How are projects judged?

HackOHI/O is proud to have dozens of judges consisting of academia, industry professionals, and alumni. On Sunday, participants will share their projects with two sets of two judges, who will score the project based on several criteria: technical difficulty, functionality, intuitiveness, usefulness/impact, creativity, teamwork, and overall wow factor. Remember - the competition is only a small part of the event! The most important part is to have fun and build something amazing.

Are travel reimbursements available?

We plan on sending buses to schools in and around Ohio who have a high number of registrants. We also have a limited number of Marathon gift certificates for students who carpool to HackOHI/O from out of the Columbus area.

What is the lockdown?

For safety, no one is allowed to enter or leave the Ohio Union between the hours of 11:30 PM and 7 AM. If you'd like to leave the event for the night, please keep the lockdown period in mind.

Can I bring my desktop computer and a monitor?

Yep! Each participant's space isn't too big, but there should be enough space on the table top and ground for a desktop/monitor setup. Please note that we do not have ethernet connections available - you should come with a wireless adapter, if you do not have one already.