Encapsulate your authentic idea of what "social good" can look like. All entries are automatically considered for this prize category. The Student Startup Center believes that a great idea can go a long way with the right support. They are offering an automatic interview for their Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program to the winning team of the Best Hack for Social Good. This opportunity is designed to help students continue building their project into a viable business throughout the school year. • The Prize: A guaranteed interview for the EIR program, which includes milestone-based funding to support your startup's growth. • Eligibility: To be eligible for this specific prize, the entire team must consist of current UC Davis students.

Awarded to the project with the most votes from our 2026 hackers. All entries are automatically considered for this prize category. Vote for any project but your own!

Projects must showcase breadth and application of technical knowledge. Focuses on use of advanced technical tools + algorithms/data structures, integration of multiple technologies, quality of implementation, displays technical depth, graded on performance/scalability.

Every team member must be a first-time hacker in order to qualify. Demonstrate a high level of growth through this project. Foster creativity and collaboration within the team and display a commitment to building skills.

Leverage multiple perspectives across different disciplines to create a more well-rounded project. At least one member of the team needs to be a non-CS/CSE/otherwise CS-related major in order to qualify.

Projects should demonstrate originality, showcase out-of-the-box thinking, and captivate its audience.

Effectively integrate a hardware component to your final project. The final project should be functional, user-friendly, and interactive.

Hack must address a social justice issue such as racial inequality, economic injustice, environmental justice, etc. This project should develop tangible solutions and/or raise awareness on these topics.

Awarded to a well-researched project that keeps its userbase in mind with an inclusive design aimed to maximize accessibility.

No Code Required. A project that focuses on viability and persuasive power through presentation on the product/service you're trying to sell, relevant customer segments, distribution channels, and associated revenue/profit models.

Projects must use exploratory data analysis (EDA) to guide their modeling decisions and hypotheses. Final models should include significance tests and be evaluated with metrics like MSE, R², adjusted R², precision, or recall, demonstrating clear statistical reasoning aligned with the project's core question or goal.

Project must have unique/creative AI functionality, clean data, accuracy in metrics, presence of high-quality data, utilizing relevant algorithms + ML libraries and/or cloud platforms for development. Participants should show how they collected their data and explain how their AI imitates the human mind. We encourage that models work accurately on unseen circumstances (displays versatility). Sponsored by Anthropic.

Project uses Figma to create beautiful design and intuitive web experiences that bring joy to users. Shows that the project is not only functional but also delightful, demonstrates wireframing in Figma, responsive design and promotes intuitive user experiences. Sponsored by Figma.

Project must incorporate one or more of DAC's materials with a vision-based AI pipeline, implementing and/or configuring concepts such as Vision-Language Models (VLMs) or Vision-Language-Action Models (VLAs) to connect real-world visual perception to physical robotic behavior. Sponsored by the Davis Autonomy Club.

Most creative use of Reconstruct in their project. Project must use Reconstruct in a prominent and efficient way to qualify for this prize track. Sponsored by Reconstruct.

Projects must create a digital system to track donations as they come in and go out. Wellspring is looking for a straightforward, easy-to-use digital tool that helps staff and volunteers quickly log donated items, track how they are distributed, and generate basic reports when needed.

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? Judged by MLH.

Deploy natural, human-sounding audio with ElevenLabs. Create realistic, dynamic, and emotionally expressive voices for any project, from interactive AI companions to narrated stories and voice-enabled apps. ElevenLabs will empower you to build rich, immersive experiences without the need for actors or complex audio production, using simply the power of AI. Integrate fully autonomous audio experiences into your hack with ElevenLabs and give your project a voice, along with giving your team the chance to win some wireless earbuds! Judged by MLH.

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 some cool prizes for you and each member of your team! Judged by MLH.

Every AI model API is stateless by default. That means your app forgets everything the second a session ends. State management should be the first step of any AI build, regardless of what LLM you are using, and Backboard gives you that for free. But Backboard is not just state management. It is a single, unified API built on the world's #1 AI memory that gives you everything you need in one place: long-term memory, RAG, embeddings, tool calls, model routing across 17,000+ LLMs, and persistent context that stays alive across every page refresh, session, and user. No stitching together five different services. One API. One integration. Built on the best memory in AI. Here's just a small list of things Backboard can make possible for your AI app! • AI-powered Travel Guide: Remembers allergies and preferences from past trips. • Personalized Fitness Coach: Adjusts workouts based on progress and injury history. • Smart Home Controller: Learns routines over time to anticipate lighting and climate preferences! Use Backboard to build a seamless, persistent user experience without the usual infrastructure headache! Each winning team member will receive a Tiles Essentials Pack because, just like AI, we all need an occasional reminder of where things are! Judged by MLH.

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 portable screens for you and your team! Judged by MLH.

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. Judged by MLH.

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! Judged by MLH.