Today we’re excited to announce the 2019 Major League Hacking Hackathon Season! The 2019 Season includes the Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 semesters and will feature 200+ amazing student hackathons for you to choose from. Our official North America Season Page has the most updated list of Member Events, so be sure to keep an eye out and register early. We’ll be adding even more great hackathons in North America over the next few months and we’ll be launching our official Europe Season Page on June 30th!
You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook or join our Mailing List to hear about new Member Events as they are added.
Lots of new hacker benefits
As a Public Benefit Corporation (B Corp), MLH’s mission is to empower hackers. Soon, we’ll be announcing some exciting new Season sponsors that will make your hackathon experience even more awesome! MLH will give you access to their bleeding edge hardware (sneak preview below), software platforms, and more. In just a month, we’ll also be announcing our 2019 Season Mascot, we hope you’re as excited as we are for the newest batch of Hackathon Season t-shirts and stickers.
Interested in organizing a hackathon?
We know many hackers have such a transformational time at a hackathon that they want to organize one back in their own community! You can apply now to become a Member Event or email league@mlh.io to learn more!
A message from our Commissioner, Chi Nguyen:
It’s been a year since I signed on as Commissioner at MLH and I’m so impressed by the impact our community leaders have had on their local hacker communities. Being Commissioner has given me the opportunity to meet with so many organizers and hackers and learn what motivates you all to spend your weekends building inspiring new projects. More importantly, your stories have given us a better understanding of what types of events you’re looking to attend. We’ll be continuing to work with organizers to ensure that the MLH League can offer events that align with your evolving needs as a hacker. Here are some highlights from last season:
- 62,000 student hackers attended 182 Member Events and created more than 10,000 projects over the entire Season.
- The largest female, femme nonbinary 1,000-person hackathon (SheHacks) took place for the first time and was followed by 3 more women-only / non-binary hackathons simultaneously taking place the weekend after (T9Hacks, WicHacks, PearlHacks).
- The first hackathon held at the Vatican took place to build hacks to address social impact issues affecting people all over the world. (VHacks)
And now, meet our first North American student hackathons!
We’re launching the 2019 Season slightly earlier than in previous years. We want to give you as much time as possible to register for your favorite hackathons and prepare for the Fall 2018 semester. Our early launch also allows us to work more closely with local organizers to help them build successful communities and events just in time for you all to go back to school! Check out our initial batch of Member hackathons below. Which ones are you planning to attend?
Hack the 6ix
Toronto, ON – August 24-26th, 2018
Hack the 6ix is Toronto’s largest summer hackathon with over 400 hackers in the heart of downtown. Come let your creativity thrive, skills grow, and have a blast with the Toronto tech community.
HackMTY
Monterrey, MX – August 25-26th, 2018
HackMTY is the largest student hackathon in Mexico and will be back at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey for its fifth edition! In previous Seasons, we’ve seen hacks ranging from tools to help Olympic athletes to measure their performance to applications that help people hide TV show spoilers from showing up on their social media feeds using computer vision. HackMTY is an amazing event that has created a platform to empower the Mexican hacker community.
ByteHacks
New York, NY – September 1-2, 2018
Bytehacks offers an environment for female-identifying college and HS students to create tech projects of positive social impact. While not organized by one specific school or university, the event’s planning team is made up of driven leaders from local high schools and universities. ByteHacks is being held at Thoughtworks New York City on September 1st – 2nd and will include workshops on topics like machine learning and VR. Plus, you’ll get to hear from inspiring speakers like the CEO of Adafruit and build tech projects for Social Impact, all while surrounded by talented women hackers from all over the Northeast. (Beginners welcome!).
ShellHacks
Miami, FL – September 14-16th, 2018
Get your terminals (and beach balls) ready for ShellHacks, Florida International University’s upcoming Fall hackathon! Spend 36 hours in beautiful Miami where hundreds of students will gather to learn, build, and share their latest and greatest creations. Featuring top companies, interactive workshops, fun activities, and amazing meals, this is a hacking experience you won’t want to miss.
HopHacks
Baltimore, MD – September 15-17, 2018
HopHacks Fall 2018 will take place at the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University from September 14-16! You may sign up at their website to be notified when registration opens in mid-July. Last year nearly 40% of attendees were first-time hackers! To assist beginners, the team had a Data Science track to introduce participants to different applications and real-world problems in machine learning. The Data Science track includes an intro workshop which teaches beginners how to tackle tasks that they may find intimidating at first and guides them towards success so that they become more confident in their ability to take on Computer Science problems in the future.
RamHacks
Richmond, VA – September 22-23rd, 2018
RamHacks, hosted September 22nd-23rd in Richmond, VA, is one of Virginia’s premier hackathons. They are known for bringing the best Richmond has to offer like combining the best local restaurants and food trucks to cater the event. Be on the lookout for new prizes this year, as they are doubling the value of their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes! Check out out their website at for more info or email the team at ramhacks@vcu.edu.
VolHacks
Knoxville, TN – September 28-30th, 2018
VolHacks 2018 is coming back again for round three! Come join them this fall at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville for an amazing 36 hours of innovation, collaboration, and networking with awesome people (like you!). Make sure to follow VolHacks on Twitter for regular updates. We look forward to seeing you there on September 28th!
SD Hacks
La Jolla, CA – October 12-14th, 2018
Taking place in sunny San Diego, SD Hacks has been one of California’s largest hackathons since 2015. With more mentorship and support for both hardware and software hackers, SD Hacks 2018 is shaping up to be an unforgettable weekend of building, learning, and collaboration.
HackGT
Atlanta, GA – October 19-21st, 2018
Looking to inspire and challenge our attendees, HackGT 5: Dare to Venture will help students learn and develop skills needed to compete, explore new technologies, and turn their curiosities into reality.
Participants will be welcomed by friendly campgrounds, lush landscapes, and a spirit of adventure — inspired by the diverse beauty of America’s National Parks from Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon to the Olympic Peninsula and Denali.
BigRed//Hacks
Ithaca, NY – October 19-21st, 2018
This year, BigRed//Hacks is throwing it back with their theme: Hack to the Future! Join them as they blast to the past while hackers learn, build, and celebrate the 6th iteration of Cornell’s hackathon!
Power the Future
Richmond, VA – October 20-21st, 2018
Power The Future is an exciting collaboration between the students of the VCU College of Engineering and Dominion Energy with a broad range of cross-disciplinary challenges that encourage more diverse teams to form. Their mission of “Imagine. Build. Deliver.” aligns perfectly with our “Learn. Build. Share.” motto and we’re excited to feature this hackathon for the first time! Join hundreds of students from all across the US and compete for over $7,000 in prizes.
Hack Western
London, ON – November 23-25th, 2018
Hack Western is one of Canada’s largest annual student-run hackathons and will be taking place at Western University in Ontario. Hack Western 5 will welcome more than 600 students on November 23rd to 25th, 2018.
Find the full list of events and even more on the official season schedule. Let the fun hacking times begin!
[Edited July 30, 2018 – TotalityHacks has postponed their event for the season.]