One day.
One working demo.
Pitch an idea, find a team, and build something real with AI — start to finish, in a single day. Open to Itkan students and students from any other institution.
Teams of 2–4
Build the thing you keep saying you'd build.
Most good ideas die in the gap between "that would be useful" and "someone actually built it." This hackathon closes that gap in one day. You bring a problem worth solving; we bring the room, the AI tooling, the food, and three judges who will tell you honestly whether it works.
You do not need to be an expert. You do not need a finished idea. You do not need a team — we build teams on the morning of the event. What you need is a full day and the willingness to ship something that runs.
Four steps
From registration to demo. Steps 1 and 2 happen before the event; everything else happens on the day.
Submit an idea
Register and describe the problem you want to attack in a few sentences. You can also register without an idea and join someone else's.
Ideas go public
All submitted ideas are published before the event so you can see what's on the table and start thinking about where you fit.
Form your team
On the morning, each idea gets 60 seconds to pitch. Then you mingle and pick your team — 2 to 4 people, decided in the room.
Build & demo
Roughly seven hours to build, then a live demo and Q&A in front of the judges. Winners announced within 48 hours.
Awarded per person, not per team
Every member of a winning team receives the full amount — nothing gets split.
Nobody is blocked by not having an account
This is an AI hackathon, so access to AI tools should not be the thing that decides who wins.
Bring your own
Already have Claude, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini, or anything else? Use it. There is no restriction on which tools or models you use, and no requirement to use any particular vendor.
Or use an Itkan account
If you don't have access to a paid AI tool, Itkan provides a temporary account for the day at no cost to you. Tell us on the registration form and it will be waiting for you at check-in. Accounts are deactivated after the event.
The day
Times are provisional and will be confirmed with the event date. Times not final
The panel, and exactly how you're scored
The rubric is published here before registration opens, so you know what you're being measured on from the first minute.
| Criterion | What the judges are looking for | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Working demo | Does it actually run, live, in front of the panel? Slides are not a demo. | 25% |
| Quality of AI use | Did AI let you build something genuinely harder than you could have alone? | 25% |
| Problem & clarity | Is the problem real, well understood, and worth solving? | 20% |
| Originality | Is this a fresh angle, or a wrapper around something that already exists? | 15% |
| Presentation | Can you explain what you built, why, and how — and answer questions about it? | 15% |
| Total | 100% | |
Short list, strictly applied
- Teams are 2 to 4 people. Solo entries are not eligible. If your idea attracts no one, we will help you merge with another team.
- Start from an empty repository, created on the day. Your commit history is part of your submission and the judges will look at it.
- Planning beforehand is encouraged. Research, sketch, design, pick your stack — all fine. Writing the project's code before 10:20 is not.
- Existing open-source libraries, frameworks, and templates are fine. Standing on other people's shoulders is engineering, not cheating. Say what you used during your demo.
- Any AI tool, any model, any vendor. No restrictions, and no bonus for picking one over another.
- Push your final commit by 17:00. Work pushed after the deadline is not judged.
- Demo live. Four minutes, from your own machine, on the real thing. A recorded video is not a substitute.
- You own what you build. Your team keeps all intellectual property. Itkan asks only for permission to publicize the project and photos from the day.
- Be decent to each other. Harassment or hostility of any kind means you leave, prize or not.
FAQ
Do I need to be an Itkan student?
No. The event is open to students from any institution. Non-Itkan participants need to bring photo ID for building access at check-in.
What if I don't have an idea?
Register anyway. All ideas are published before the event, and team formation happens on the morning — plenty of people join a team without having submitted anything.
What if I don't have a team?
That's the normal case. Nobody needs a pre-formed team. The 09:20 pitch session and the mingle right after it exist specifically to build teams in the room.
How much experience do I need?
Enough to be useful to a team for a day. Beginners are genuinely welcome — with AI tooling, the gap between a first-year student and a senior one narrows a lot in a one-day build. Teams also need people who can research, design, and present, not only write code.
What counts as a "working demo"?
Something that runs live and does the one thing you claim it does. A single feature that genuinely works beats five features that only work in a screenshot. Scope down early — this is the most common way teams lose.
Is there a theme?
To be announced — the theme and any tracks will be published here before registration opens.
What do I need to bring?
A laptop, its charger, and photo ID. Everything else — food, coffee, network, power, and AI accounts if you need one — is provided.
When do I find out if I won?
Within 48 hours of the event. The judges deliberate after demo day rather than on the spot, so they can weigh every project properly.
Come build something
Registration opens with the date announcement. Submit an idea, or just submit yourself — both are valid ways in.
Questions? Contact Muhammad Gabr, event organizer — contact email TBD