MSFTHacks is back for another year! This year we’re bringing together all students across the nation from Eastern to Western Canada. MSFTHacks will be happening on March 25th-26th, 2017 simultaneously at University of Waterloo and University of British Columbia.

MSFTHacks is a hackathon for University and College students from across Canada. For 24 hours, hackers of various skill levels will use Azure Machine Learning, Microsoft Cognitive Services, or the language user interface (bots) in their hacks. Cost: Free of charge!

Ever wanted to demo or hack on the HoloLens? Here's your chance! There will also be mentorship provided by Microsoft Technical Evangelists, Software Engineers, Microsoft Valuable Professionals, and Microsoft Audience Evangelists.

NOTE: This does not include travel to and from the event.

For more information visit the Event Facebook Page: aka.ms/MSFTHacks2017

Eligibility

Prerequisites: Current computer science or engineering student at a Canadian University or College. OR Interest in learning more about Microsoft Azure, Cognitive Services, and Bots.

In order to participate in the hackathon, you will need to BRING YOUR LAPTOP and valid STUDENT ID CARD.

Requirements

Please submit your hackathon description, along with screenshots of your hack. 

The Competition honours the most fun, innovative, and creative games built with Microsoft tools and technology. Projects must use one or more of the following features: Azure Machine Learning, Microsoft Cognitive Services, or Microsoft Bot Framework. Winners will be selected by a panel of Microsoft judges at the sole discretion of Microsoft. Criteria will be scored on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) by each judge for each criteria listed below in order to give each team or individual, as applicable, a total score. The totals from each judge will then be average to assign a score to each individual or team, as applicable. The highest three scores as determined by the judging panel for submissions will determine the potential winners. In the event of a tie, the judges will revaluate the tied entries to determine the winner. The criteria to which judges will score the submissions are as follows:

  1. Is the project’s purpose and basic functionality easily understood? (Score out of 10)
  2. Is the project innovative either in user experience or in technical design and/or implementation? (Score out of 10)
  3. Is the project easy to use? (Score out of 10)
  4. Does the project make effective and appropriate use of the major features of its chosen platform(s)? (Score out of 10)
  5. Does the project show promise for success within its targeted audience? (Score out of 10)

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$10,576 in prizes

Overall 1st Place (4)

Microsoft Surface Books 256GB i5 8GB dGPU

Overall 2nd Place (4)

Microsoft IoT Pack for Raspberry Pi 3 – w/ Raspberry Pi 3

Overall 3rd Place (4)

Microsoft Surface Arc Touch Mouse

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Evgeny Vinnik

Evgeny Vinnik
Software Engineer, Microsoft

Ramnandan Krishnamurthy

Ramnandan Krishnamurthy
Software Engineer, Microsoft

Mike Budd

Mike Budd
Software Engineer, Microsoft

Alex Kwan

Alex Kwan
Software Engineer, Microsoft

Dana Epp

Dana Epp
MVP, Microsoft Canada

Aashni Shah

Aashni Shah
Software Engineer, Microsoft

Justin Garrett

Justin Garrett
Group Manager, DX Student Developer Evangelism, Microsoft

Judging Criteria

  • Is the project’s purpose and basic functionality easily understood?
  • Is the project innovative either in user experience or in technical design and/or implementation?
  • Is the project easy to use?
  • Does the project make effective and appropriate use of the major features of its chosen platform(s)?
  • Does the project show promise for success within its targeted audience?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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Hackathon sponsors

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