Are you excited for the first European events of the 2017 Hackathon Season? We sure are! Last year, 54,000 hackers attended 180 hackathons in the MLH season across 18 countries around the world. And the European League is growing and growing. Last year we had 37 events in Europe attended by over 5,000 students! We can’t wait to return to our favourites, and we’re excited to see even more new hackathons join the season.
Hackathon Season 2017 – A Yearlong Season
When we announced the first events of the North American Season, we mentioned the 2017 Season will run from August 2016 to July 2017 and will include 270 hackathons. As a hacker, the biggest benefit to the year-long season that you no longer have to wait to see which events will be in the Spring. You’ll know about all of our newest events every day. As an organizer, we can onboard your hackathon to the league as early as possible. That means that we can offer our help during any point in the season – even if you have a problem in November, but your hackathon isn’t for another few months.
You know what a new season means… You can look forward to adding the 2017 season sticker to your collection!
And don’t forget about the season t-shirt!
Big thanks to our friends at Capital One for powering this new batch of shirts as our Official Apparel Partner.
The First Events
The moment you’ve been waiting for is here. We’ve added the first events onto our newly minted season, so start signing up, and keep your eyes peeled for more!
HackSheffield
Sheffield, UK – October 15th – 16th, 2016
The first HackSheffield was hosted last season in the magnificent Diamond Building at the University of Sheffield. Hackers made a wide range of cool projects such as a Myo armband controlled robot (check out the video here) and an algorithm fighting game (another video here). The second HackSheffield is coming up this season on October 15th!
BrumHack
Birmingham, UK – October 29th – 30th, 2016
BrumHack is a fixture of the European Season. There has been a BrumHack in every MLH European Season since we started in 2014. It has become a solid favourite due to the laid-back and fun atmosphere. We always see some entertaining hacks from BrumHack such as ReactGif. Built by a team from UPC in Barcelona, it shows you funny gifs until facial recognition software detects that you’re happy. Other hacks included Trello integration for Git, and an API for libraries (the type with books). BrumHack will be back for the fifth time on October 29th-30th.
LauzHack
Lausanne, Switzerland – November 19th – 20th, 2016
We’re excited to announce a new hackathon in the European Season: LauzHack. Organized by students at EPFL, this hackathon is guaranteed to have some very creative and technical hacks. We can’t wait to see what hackers build. If you want to take a break from hacking, Lausanne has a beautiful view over Lake Geneva and the Alps. EPFL has a rich history of technical innovation so make sure you don’t miss this hackathon this season on November 19th!
Junction is back for a second season and it has some fascinating tracks this year including gaming, VR, and intelligent buildings. Junction is organized by the Aalto Entrepreneur Society and is happening the weekend before Slush Conference, one of Europe’s biggest tech events of the year. Over 1000 hackers will be descending on Helsinki for a weekend of building, meeting new people, and Salmiakki!
Last year hackers built a VR in-flight entertainment system, an app that gives you different perspectives on news articles, and even an IOT toilet! We can’t wait to see all the hacks that get built at Junction on November 25th!
HackKing’s
London, UK – November 26th – 27th, 2016
HackKing’s is back! Run by the KCLTech Society at King’s College London, this hackathon is one of the most anticipated every year. This season hackers from around the world will get another chance to hack in the historic setting of KCL’s Great Hall. Last season a team from the University of Manchester made a multiplayer snake that captivated the audience and a home team from KCL made Pictonote which transformed pictures into music. Keep your eyes out for tickets because they’re going to go quick!
HackNotts
Nottingham,UK – November 26th – 27th, 2016
Robin Hood’s favourite hackathon is back this November! Last year Edinburgh teams came by the bus load and created some awesome hacks. A team from The University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier University made The Marauder’s App which allowed them to track and reserve computers in their labs on campus. Another team from Edinburgh created HackProphecy which used Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing on over 35,000 Devpost submissions to create a model that predicts hackathon winners. We can’t wait to see what will be built at HackNotts on November 26th. Who will win? Maybe HackProphecy will be able to tell us but we’re happy to wait and see!
MLH Local Hack Day
Everywhere, Worldwide – December 3rd, 2016
Local Hack Day is a 12 hour hack day on your school’s campus that brings together the local hacker community to celebrate building awesome technology. On December 3rd, 2016, other students around the world will be simultaneously hosting their own Local Hack Day at their school, resulting in the single largest day of student hacking ever. Throughout the day, there will be awesome chatrooms, and fun activities that you can use to meet students in your local community as well as across the globe. Whether you’re a seasoned hackathon veteran or have never been to a hackathon before, Local Hack Day is going to be awesome! If you’re interested in attending or even organizing a Local Hack Day, check out the website here.
More Events Coming Soon
We’ll be announcing a LOT more events soon, so keep an eye on our 2017 Hackathon Season Calendar, follow us on Twitter or Facebook, or join our Mailing List to hear about new Member Events as they join!
Organize a Hackathon at your School!
If you’re planning an event any time in the next academic year, you can get in touch today to receive support from MLH. We’d love to help out. We have a ton of resources and a lot of advice to offer. Brand New Member Events will also be eligible for a special grant from GitHub! Get involved and learn how we can help you! We can’t wait for you to be a part of the season.