The Ohio State University's
annual makeathon.
SHOWCASE
On March 5th, join us at MakeOHI/O—the Ohio State University's largest makeathon—for a weekend of building and creating real projects with awesome people. Over 150 undergraduate and graduate students will design, build, and demonstrate projects to a live audience of students, faculty, and representatives from tech companies. MakeOHI/O is put on by OHI/O, a student-led organization that aims to build and foster the tech community at Ohio State University.
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. If you're interested in participating, all attendees must adhere to our Code of Conduct.
Here are some common questions that people ask. If you have any additional questions, please contact us at makeohio@osu.edu.
A makeathon is similar to a hackathon. Both are events where participants build awesome projects from scratch in just a few short hours. The difference between a MAKEathon and a HACKathon is that we are encouraging projects to be maker-oriented, and therefore physically making something!
Anyone who is a student at a university! We encourage all levels of expertise to join. Whether this is your first makeathon, or you've been to other make- or hackathons across the nation, MakeOHI/O provides an opportunity to collaborate and create something amazing. All participants are expected to follow our Code of Conduct.
Registration will go live January 28th and continue until March 4th. If you want to be eligible to receive a hardware kit, you must register and have a team before the event. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to registerhackohio@gmail.com.
Teams make all sorts of things! Previous projects have included mobile apps, websites, smart mirrors, light-up glasses, pancake printers...the possibilities are endless. Hardware will come in pre-made Arduino-based kits. If your team would like to receive one, make sure that you join the Discord server after registering and create a team before the event. The pickup window for the base kits will be the week leading up to MakeOHI/O. Additional hardware that you can optionally pick up will also be available. Anyone within a 30 mile radius of OSU will have to pick up their kits. If you are outside this range and would like a hardware kit, contact hackathon@osu.edu.
MakeOHI/O is free to participate in! We want all students to have an opportunity to work on projects with hardware, which is why we’re also providing free hardware kits for MakeOHI/O.
All participants should be in teams of 2 to 4, but don't worry if you're coming in without a team. OHI/O provides opportunities before and during the makeathon to find a team. Team formation will be ongoing in the Discord server up to the event. We will post more information on team formation on our event website and in Discord but step one is to register for participation.
Nope! Many students come up with an idea while at the makeathon or by addressing one of our proposed challenges. By talking to fellow students you'll find opportunities to brainstorm ideas that pique your interest. you get stuck, we'll have a nice list of ideas to help you out. This year, we recommend discussing possible ideas with your team before kit pickup opens so that you have a better idea of what hardware to choose for your kit.
Yes! We welcome individuals with knowledge and expertise in various topic areas to help mentor students at MakeOHI/O. If you're interested, please contact us to find out more information!
MakeOHI/O is proud to have dozens of judges consisting of academia, industry professionals,
and alumni. On Sunday, participants will create a 4 minute video demonstration of their project
and submit it for judging. More details on how the submission process works will be given
closer to the event. Remember - the competition is only a small part of the event! The most
important part is to have fun and build something amazing.
Teams may only submit one project for judging and participants must stick to the team they have registered in Discord.
Judging will be based on the following criteria:
Even something as small as a relay controlling a lamp being on could be hazardous with exposed wires. For safety reasons, projects involving high voltage such as Tesla coils, jacob’s ladders, or plasma speakers are discouraged. If you are unsure if your project will be allowed, please ask! We reserve the right to shut down any projects that we deem as unsafe. We want the event to be awesome and electrocution or other physical injury is not so great. Please bring your own fuses if you intend on working with the mains or otherwise high voltage project. Railguns, coil guns or any other projects with weapons are prohibited. Projects such as an induction furnace are similarly prohibited for an obvious fire hazard. For more information regarding what technical resources are allowed, click here!
MakeOHI/O is hosted by OHI/O and the Electronics Club here at OSU. You can find more information about OHI/O and our other events at https://hack.osu.edu.
Here are this years sponsor challenges! These are optional challenges given out to participants for extra prizes.
Pseudo Wind Tower Challenge [PDF]
Create hardware and software solutions for monitoring and analyzing wind turbine performance and condition. Ideas include measuring speed, vibration, sound, and temperature/humidity; performing automatic capture of blade images, power monitoring, wind tower positioning, and data analytics.
Equipment Technical Information [PDF]
Prize: Up to 4 $250 Amazon gift cards for the winning team
Safer Traveling Challenge [PDF]
Find a solution to increase user safety in vehicles. Identify a condition(s) a driver may face.
Solutions may be either on the interior and/or the exterior of the vehicle.
Prize: Up to 4 $50 Amazon gift cards for the 1st place team
Hotel Challenge [PDF]
Project #1: Identify a repetitive task(s) that could be automated as part of a
housekeeping task.
Project #2: Identify a repetitive task(s) that could be automated as part of laundry
attendant task(s).
Design and build a prototype for a solution(s) that eliminates the most repetitive tasks for a
housekeeper or laundry attendant working in hotels.
Prize: A voucher for a two-night stay at Aloft Cleveland Downtown for each participating student on the team.
I want... | Register by |
...hardware provided and shipped to me | Friday, February 18th |
...hardware provided, but not shipped to me | Friday, February 25th |
...no hardware provided to me | Friday, March 4th |
Time | Event |
9:00 AM | Knowlton Hall doors open |
10:00 AM | Opening Keynote |
11:00 AM | MAKING BEGINS |
Time | Event |
11:00 AM | MAKING ENDS AND VIDEO SUBMISSION DEADLINE |
12:00 PM | Judging Begins |
2:00 PM | Judging Ends |
3:00 PM | Showcase Begins |
MakeOHI/O is virtual! If you're interested in receiving hardware, during your registration, you will
be given the option to receive hardware for the event. More information on the registration website!
Looking for hardware during the event? Visit Knowlton Hall for extra hardware!
Congratulations to the following teams!
1st: RuntimeMakeOHI/O 2022 is set to be March 5th - 6th! Join us for our virtual makeathon as we give students the unique opportunity to receive hardware and develop projects from the safety of their homes.
Mentors will assist participants throughout the event with any questions or concerns they may have while creating their project.
Judges will help us score teams on March 6th 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM by reviewing their projects in the form of a video submission and scoring them.
More details including schedules, logistics, and how to join our event space will be distributed at a later date to those who have signed up.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor, judge, and/or sponsor company representative, please fill out the form! Available here or the button above.