About the challenge

Join us for a full day of innovation, collaboration, and hands-on building at the University of Maryland, College Park Hackathon. This event brings together students of all experience levels, from beginners starting their coding journey to experienced developers ready to build ambitious solutions.

Powered by Google technologies, this hackathon is designed to inspire creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork in a high-energy environment. Participants will have the opportunity to explore new tools, build meaningful projects, connect with fellow students and mentors, and compete for exciting prizes, swags, certifications, and Google Cloud credits.

The event will also feature a special keynote session by Vaidehi Tripathi, Cloud Advisor at Elevance Health, who will speak on building next-generation applications with Google Antigravity IDE. With food, activities, networking, and technical learning all in one place, this hackathon is an opportunity to create something impactful while growing your skills and community.

Get started

To get started, form your team, review the event details and schedule, and come prepared to build on Sunday, April 26, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Participants are encouraged to explore Google technologies and brainstorm ideas ahead of time so they can make the most of the event. Whether you want to solve a real-world problem, experiment with cloud tools, or create something fun and creative, this hackathon is your space to do it.

During the event, you will have the chance to attend the keynote session, collaborate with your teammates, network with peers and professionals, and bring your idea from concept to prototype in just one day.

Requirements

What to Build

Build an innovative project using Google technologies that demonstrates creativity, technical skill, and real world impact.

You are free to create anything from productivity tools and AI powered applications to community focused platforms, educational tools, health solutions, data driven dashboards, or fun interactive experiences. Projects can be built for social good, campus life, accessibility, learning, entertainment, or any other meaningful use case.

Teams are encouraged to think boldly, solve interesting problems, and use the hackathon as an opportunity to turn ideas into working prototypes that showcase both innovation and practicality.

What to Submit

Please submit the following on DevPost:

  • Project title
  • Team member names
  • A short project description explaining what you built
  • The problem your project solves and why it matters
  • A description of how your project uses Google technologies
  • Screenshots or visuals of your project
  • A demo video showing your project in action
  • A link to your source code repository
  • Any additional details needed for judges to understand your solution, features, and impact

Make sure your submission clearly explains your idea, your implementation, and what makes your project unique.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

15 non-cash prizes
Best Overall Hack - Winner
1 winner

Best Overall Hack - Winner

Owala Water Bottles

Best Overall Hack - Runner Up
1 winner

Best Overall Hack - Runner Up

Best App for UMD Students - Winner
1 winner

The best hack by a team of UMD students, for UMD students. Create a project using Google's suite of AI tools to fix a problem faced by students at the University of Maryland.

Ground Coffee

Best App for UMD Students - Runner Up
1 winner

The second-best hack by a team of UMD students, for UMD students. Create a project using Google's suite of AI tools to fix a problem faced by students at the University of Maryland.

Best App for Social Good - Winner
1 winner

The best hack that harnesses the power of Google Gemini to tackle a meaningful societal challenge — delivering a solution with genuine potential to create positive, lasting change in the world.

Soundcore Speakers

Best App for Social Good - Runner Up
1 winner

The second-best hack that harnesses the power of Google Gemini to tackle a meaningful societal challenge — delivering a solution with genuine potential to create positive, lasting change in the world.

Best App for Business & Finance - Winner
1 winner

The best hack that has the potential to enhance current business and financial workflows. Use the AI tools provided by Google to make a hack that solves a real-world business problem.

Neck Pillows

Best App for Business & Finance - Runner Up
1 winner

The second-best hack that has the potential to enhance current business and financial workflows. Use the AI tools provided by Google to make a hack that solves a real-world business problem.

Best App for Developer Productivity - Winner
1 winner

The best hack that displays outstanding innovation and technical excellence in building an AI-powered developer tool that reimagines how engineers work — leveraging Google AI tools to automate, accelerate, and elevate the development experience.

Gaming Mouse

Best App for Developer Productivity - Runner Up
1 winner

The second-best hack that displays outstanding innovation and technical excellence in building an AI-powered developer tool that reimagines how engineers work — leveraging Google AI tools to automate, accelerate, and elevate the development experience.

Best Use of Gemini
3 winners

Best Use of Gemini

Duffel Bags

Best Use of Google Antigravity
2 winners

Best Use of Google Antigravity

Cosmo Lamps

Best Use of AI Studio
2 winners

Best Use of AI Studio

Throw Blankets

Most Creative Hack - Winner
1 winner

Most Creative Hack - Winner

Lego sets

Most Creative Hack - Runner Up
1 winner

Most Creative Hack - Runner Up

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

GDSC Team

GDSC Team

Jeff Giliberti

Jeff Giliberti
GDSC Advisor

Judging Criteria

  • Time-Constrained Development
    Judges will assess how effectively your team utilizes the hackathon’s limited time to build a functional solution from scratch. Only projects fully developed within the official hackathon period will be considered for the final round.
  • Functionality
    Judges will evaluate whether the project works as intended and delivers the core features promised by the team. Solutions should function reliably and meet the requirements of the chosen track.
  • Innovation/Creativity
    This criterion measures how novel and original your idea and approach are. Teams are encouraged to think outside the box and offer solutions that introduce new perspectives, solve emerging problems, or apply technology in unique ways.
  • Usability
    Projects will be assessed for how easy and intuitive they are to use. Judges will consider the overall user experience, clarity of design, and accessibility.

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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