Hoya Hacks 2024

Georgetown University will host its 10th annual Hoya Hacks on January 26-28 at the Healey Family Student Center.

Hoya Hacks is Georgetown’s annual hackathon, or technology innovation event. Approximately 700 students, from both Georgetown and other higher education institutions, have registered for Hoya Hacks, with approximately 300 students in attendance as hackers.

This year’s Hoya Hacks will be held fully in person for the first time since the Covid pandemic.

For the competition, teams of 2-4 students work for 36 hours over 3 days to collaborate, build, and innovate in both hardware and software to develop their entries. All entries must be built around the theme of doing social good, and each team must incorporate this theme in its entry. At the end of the competition, entries will be judged, and winners will receive prizes.

Student participants come to Hoya Hacks with a wide range of design and coding skills. Any student with an interest in technology can attend Hoya Hacks; a student isn’t required to be a programmer or a Computer Science major to participate. Hoya Hacks will also hold workshops and talks for students who want to learn new tools and skills. The Hoya Hacks Web site also provides information for anyone new to hacking.

Registration for Hoya Hacks is closed, but you can still sign up to participate as a judge.

The keynote speakers for Hoya Hacks 2024 are Husein Sharaf and Tommy Gardner. Husein is the CEO of technology consulting firm Cloudforce. Tommy is the Chief Technology Officer for HP Federal, the public-sector serving arm of Hewlett-Packard. In addition, Doug Little, Interim Chief Information Officer for Georgetown, will provide opening remarks.

Hoya Hacks exists in large part due to the partnership of its sponsoring companies. Google and Craig Newmark Philanthropies have been Hoya Hacks sponsors since its inception.

Hoya Hacks was originally founded in 2015 by Taylor Wan (COL ’16) and Casandra Schwartz (COL ’16), with the goal of creating solutions to life’s everyday problems through hardware or software.For more information about Hoya Hacks, you can visit the Hoya Hacks Website or email hoyahaxa@georgetown.edu.