About Hack The Nest

Hack The Nest is Eastern Michigan University's flagship hackathon, hosted by Google Developer Group on Campus at EMU and backed by the university. For 24 hours, teams of 1 to 4 build something real, with partners from quantum computing to brain-computer interfaces helping in person and online. It is free for every student.

Over $150,000 in total event value, including more than $25,000 in prizes, plus MLH's own prizes.

When: Saturday, November 14, 9:00 AM to Sunday, November 15, 4:00 PM ET
Where: EMU Student Center and Halle Library, Ypsilanti, Michigan
Hacking: Saturday 12:00 PM to Sunday 12:00 PM ET

Tracks

Main tracks

  • Future of Intelligence. Led by OpenAI, with Exa. AI is writing the future. Build the part nobody has thought of yet.
  • Mind and Machine. Led by g.tec, with PiEEG. The singularity starts with a brain signal. Build it.
  • Quantum Leap. Led by Quantum Rings, with Xanadu. Your laptop is a quantum computer now. Prove it.
  • Future of Money. Led by Breez. Ten everyday problems. One global money. Build the fix.

Partner tracks

  • Best Use of Base44. Think it. Prompt it. Build it.
  • Best Use of SSOJet. Log in like the big leagues.
  • Best Use of ElevenLabs. Give your idea a voice.
  • Code of Life. Led by Seqera. Real data. Real pipelines. An AI co-scientist at your side.
  • Beyond the Horizon. With MSGC and NASA's open data, build something out of this world. Supported by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium, NASA grant 80NSSC20M0124.

Academic track

  • Department of Computer Science Track. Presented by the EMU Department of Computer Science. Judges read your code, not your slides. No separate project: opt in from any track.

Event-wide awards

  • Best Beginner. For teams where most members are first-timers.
  • Capture the Flag. Runs all weekend alongside the hackathon. Most flags wins. (Not judged through Devpost.)

MLH tracks

The MLH prize tracks are listed here: https://www.mlh.com/events/hack-the-nest-96/prizes

Every prize and its value is listed in the Prizes section of this page. Prize values are approximate retail values, and "each" means every member of the winning team.

Get started

  1. Join the Hack The Nest Discord: https://discord.gg/A3YC3nWCw (also the QR code at check-in).
  2. Make a Devpost account and a GitHub account.
  3. Pick a main track, then opt in to any partner, academic and MLH prizes that fit your project.

Website: https://hackthenest.tech/

Requirements

What to Build

Anything you can build in 24 hours: software, hardware or both. Enter one main track, then opt in to any partner, academic and MLH prizes that fit your project. All project code must be written during the event. Ideas and planning beforehand are fine.

What to Submit

  • Project name, a short description and the problem it solves
  • A public GitHub repository
  • A demo video of 3 minutes or less (required for every submission)
  • Every teammate added to the project
  • Your main track, plus any partner, academic and MLH prizes you are entering
  • Which AI tools you used and how

Deadlines

  • Draft submission: Sunday 12:00 AM ET (midnight Saturday night). Keep improving it after.
  • Final submission: Sunday 12:00 PM ET. No late entries.
  • Demos: Sunday 1:15 to 2:15 PM ET in the Student Center Ballroom. Find your table at 1:00 PM and stay at it.

Track extras

  • Future of Money: a write-up of how you built it
  • Code of Life: a run link or screenshot from the Seqera Platform
  • Best Use of Base44: a live link people can use
  • Mind and Machine teams using g.tec hardware: also submit to g.tec's GitHub by November 30

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

26 non-cash prizes
Overall 1st Place
1 winner

PlayStation 5 each. Prize value about $2,396.
MLH Winner Pins for each member of the winning team.

Overall 2nd Place
1 winner

Nintendo Switch 2 each. Prize value about $2,000.
MLH Winner Pins for each member of the winning team.

Overall 3rd Place
1 winner

43-inch 4K TV each. Prize value about $552.
MLH Winner Pins for each member of the winning team.

Future of Intelligence - Best use of AI (led by OpenAI, with Exa)
3 winners

Announced at kickoff

Mind and Machine 1st (led by g.tec, with PiEEG)
1 winner

g.tec Unicorn Hybrid Black headset, one for the team. Prize value about $1,518.

Mind and Machine 2nd
1 winner

Two PiEEG Octopus 16 boards. Prize value about $500.

Mind and Machine 3rd
1 winner

Logitech MX Keys S keyboard each. Prize value about $520.

Quantum Leap 1st (led by Quantum Rings, with Xanadu)
1 winner

Quantum Rings internship interview, compute credits and a Turtle Beach Stealth 700 headset each. Prize value about $800.

Future of Money (led by Breez)
10 winners

A Breez bounty for every entry that meets Breez's bar. Breez judges in the week after the event.

Best Use of Base44
1 winner

Select this once to enter the Best Use of Base44 track for all placements. Build with Base44 and provide a live link people can use. Community vote.

1st place: Ray-Ban Meta glasses and a Base44 Builder plan each. Prize value about $1,676.
2nd place: AirPods and a Base44 Builder plan each. Prize value about $676.
3rd place: Base44 Builder plan each. Prize value about $160.

This prize record is used to assign 1st place. The separate 2nd- and 3rd-place award records use the same entrant pool; no additional opt-in is needed.

Best Use of Base44 2nd
1 winner

AirPods and a Base44 Builder plan each. Prize value about $676.

Awarded from the Best Use of Base44 entrant pool. Select the single Best Use of Base44 opt-in to enter all placements; no separate entry for 2nd place is needed.

Best Use of Base44 3rd
1 winner

Base44 Builder plan each. Prize value about $160.

Awarded from the Best Use of Base44 entrant pool. Select the single Best Use of Base44 opt-in to enter all placements; no separate entry for 3rd place is needed.

Best Use of SSOJet
2 winners

SSOJet business licenses for the team (1st and 2nd). Prize value about $5,664 for both places together.

Best Use of ElevenLabs
1 winner

Select this once to enter the Best Use of ElevenLabs track for all placements. Your project must use ElevenLabs.

1st place: Scale plan for 3 months each. Prize value about $3,588.
2nd place: Pro plan for 3 months each. Prize value about $1,188.

This prize record is used to assign 1st place. The separate 2nd-place award record uses the same entrant pool; no additional opt-in is needed.

Best Use of ElevenLabs 2nd
1 winner

Pro plan for 3 months each. Prize value about $1,188.

Awarded from the Best Use of ElevenLabs entrant pool. Select the single Best Use of ElevenLabs opt-in to enter all placements; no separate entry for 2nd place is needed.

Code of Life (led by Seqera)
1 winner

$250 in Seqera compute and Co-Scientist credits, continued platform access, up to 8 hours of mentoring. Prize value about $250.

Beyond the Horizon (with MSGC)
1 winner

Celestron Travel Scope 60 telescope each. Prize value about $180.

Department of Computer Science Track
1 winner

$1,000 scholarship to the winning team, $250 per member. Prize value about $1,000.

Best Beginner
1 winner

Logitech MX Master 4 mouse each. Prize value about $480.

Capture the Flag
1 winner

Lightsaber each. Runs alongside the hackathon and is scored by flags, not judged through Devpost.

Best Use of Gemini API
1 winner

MLH Swag Kits

It’s time to push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI using Google Gemini. Check out the Gemini API to build AI-powered apps that make your friends say WHOA. So, what can Gemini do for your hackathon project?
• Understand language like a human and build a chatbot that gives personalized advice
• Analyze info like a supercomputer and create an app that summarizes complex research papers
• Generate creative content like code, scripts, music, and more
Think of the possibilities… what will you build with the Google Gemini API this weekend?

Best Use of Solana
1 winner

Unruggable Hardware Wallets

The world of development is evolving fast and Solana is leading the charge with a network built to handle all of your infrastructure needs. Forget high fees and slow confirmations, it’s time to build applications that are fast, efficient, and scalable.
Harness Solana’s core advantages like blazing fast execution and near-zero transaction costs to make your hackathon ideas become real world projects. With Solana, the possibilities are endless.
• Create a game, social app, or consumer product that relies on instant, high-frequency transactions.
• Design a sophisticated trading, lending, or decentralized exchange (DEX).
• Build a prototype for supply chain, identity, or payments that can handle massive, real-world volume.
Show us how you can innovate with Solana for a chance to win Unruggable Hardware Wallets for you and each member of your team!

Best Use of Tiger Data
1 winner

Stream Deck Mini

Building high-performance apps under hackathon deadlines shouldn't mean spending half your weekend configuring complex databases or learning obscure query languages. Tiger Data extends PostgreSQL to give student developers an ultra-fast foundation for real-time data, time-series metrics, and complex analytics.
Why build with Tiger Data this weekend?
• Standard SQL Power: Query massive datasets instantly using the SQL you already know, with no complex NoSQL aggregation pipelines required.
• Unified Data Stack: Store relational user profiles and high-frequency metric streams side-by-side in a single database.
• Instant Dashboards: Serve lag-free, real-time frontend charts using pre-computed Continuous Aggregates.
• 90%+ Data Compression: Store millions of events on free-tier cloud instances without running out of disk space.
Whether you’re building real-time IoT monitoring, AI-driven analytics dashboards, or financial prediction engines, show us how Tiger Data powers your project. The team that demonstrates the most innovative, impactful, and performance-driven use of Tiger Data will take home some great prizes!

Best Use of Vultr
1 winner

Assorted Prizes

Vultr empowers hackers to bring their high-performance projects to life instantly; providing everything from the speed of one-click deployment and scalable cloud compute, to specialized Vultr Cloud GPUs that can power AI-driven applications. We want you to push the limits of what can be built when infrastructure is no longer the bottleneck!
Sign up for a Vultr account today and claim your free cloud credits! Take your next hack to the cloud with Vultr for a chance to win some awesome prizes for you and your team!

Best Use of MongoDB Atlas
1 winner

M5Stack IoT Kit

MongoDB Atlas takes the leading modern database and makes it accessible in the cloud! Get started with a $50 credit for students or sign up for the Atlas free forever tier (no credit card required).

Along with a suite of services and functionalities, you’ll have everything you need to manage all of your data, and you can get a headstart with free resources from MongoDB University! Build a hack using MongoDB Atlas for a chance to win a M5Stack IoT Kit for you and each member of your group.

Best Domain Name from GoDaddy Registry
1 winner

Digital Gift Card

GoDaddy Registry is giving you everything you need to be the best hacker no matter where you are. Register your domain name with GoDaddy Registry for a chance to win some amazing prizes!

Judges

Rishi Babu

Rishi Babu
IceCube, Michigan State University

Judging Criteria

  • Does it work
    A live demo of the core feature, not slides or a mockup.
  • Technical challenge
    A hard problem solved with real use of the track's technology.
  • Originality and impact
    A fresh idea with a clear user and a clear problem.
  • Design and usability
    A stranger can use it in a minute.
  • Learning and growth
    The team picked up a new tool, language or field.

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Invite others to compete

Hackathon sponsors