About LancerHacks

LancerHacks is the first free, student-led, 12-hour hackathon at Pasadena City College where students come together to turn ideas into real projects — all in one day. Hosted by She.Codes, STEM Competition Society, AI Club, and Data Science Club, LancerHacks brings together students from across PCC to collaborate, experiment, and build. Whether you're writing your first lines of code or already have experience building technical projects, no prior hackathon experience is required.

Participants will work in teams of up to 4 members to design, build, and present an original project based on the challenge revealed at the start of the event. Projects can take many forms — web or mobile applications, AI/ML projects, data-driven tools, games, hardware projects, creative technology, and more.

Throughout the day, you'll have time to build, meet other students, connect with faculty and mentors, enjoy free food and refreshments, and turn an idea into something you can showcase in your portfolio.

Get started 

Date：October 30th, Friday

Time：9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Location：WiFi Lounge, Pasadena City College

Teams of up to 4
Beginner friendly — no experience required
Lunch, dinner, snacks, and refreshments provided

Schedule

9:00 – 9:30 AM — Opening Ceremony, Challenge & Prize Reveal
9:30 AM – 1:00 PM — Build Session
1:00 – 2:00 PM — Lunch & Networking
2:00 – 6:00 PM — Build Session
6:00 – 7:00 PM — Dinner & Networking
7:00 – 7:30 PM — Final Touches & Project Submission
7:30 – 8:45 PM — Project Demos & Judging
8:45 – 9:00 PM — Winners & Closing Ceremony

Come with a team or meet new teammates through LancerHacks. Bring your laptop, your ideas, and your curiosity , we’ll take care of the rest.

 

Requirements

What to Build

Build an original technology project that responds to the LancerHacks Main Challenge, which will be revealed at the start of the hackathon. Teams may have up to 4 members. Your project can take many forms, including:

  • Web or mobile applications
  • AI or machine learning projects
  • Data science or visualization projects
  • Games
  • Hardware projects
  • Productivity, business, or community tools
  • Creative technology

Participants may also choose to compete in additional sponsor tracks announced by LancerHacks. AI tools are allowed. Teams may also use existing libraries, frameworks, APIs, datasets, open-source tools, and other development resources.

Projects should be substantially developed during LancerHacks. Pre-existing complete projects may not be submitted as new hackathon projects.

What to Submit

Each team must submit one project through Devpost before the submission deadline. Your submission should include:

  • Project name
  • Project description — what problem or idea you explored
  • What your project does
  • How you built it and the technologies/tools used
  • Source code or GitHub repository, when applicable
  • Video demo link

Teams must also be prepared to give a short live demo and presentation during the judging period IF you are to move on to the second round. Your project does not need to be fully polished or production-ready. A working prototype that clearly demonstrates your idea is enough.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$5,760+ in prizes
+ other prizes
First Place — Tier 1
$2,000 in cash
1 winner

The First Place team will receive:

$400 in Amazon gift cards,

3-months of ElevenLabs Pro,

4 Skullcandy Headphones,

2 IHOP gift cards & 2 Applebee's gift cards

Second Place — Tier 2
$1,760 in cash
1 winner

The Second Place team will receive:

$300 in Amazon gift cards,

3-months of ElevenLabs Pro,

4 Stanleys Waterbottles,

2 IHOP gift cards & 2 Applebee's gift cards

Third Place — Tier 3
$1,600 in cash
1 winner

The Third Place team will receive:

$200 in Amazon gift cards,

ElevenLabs Pro access,

4 Powerbanks

Honorable Mention
$200 in cash
2 winners

Two teams will receive Honorable Mention awards.

The Honorable Mention prize pool includes:

$60 in Amazon gift cards, provided by MESA,

2 power banks,

1 Applebee's gift card,

1 IHOP gift card

ElevenLabs Sponsor Prize
1 winner

The team with the best use of ElevenLabs gets 3-months of Scale AI.

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Dave R. Smith

Dave R. Smith
PCC CS Professor

Erin Shaw

Erin Shaw
PCC CS Professor

Gamas Chang

Gamas Chang
American Young Coder Academy

Audrey Ku

Audrey Ku
PCC She.Codes

Lilian Keshishian

Lilian Keshishian
PCC Data Science Club

Hilario Balajadia

Hilario Balajadia
PCC CS Professor

Augustus Le
PCC Artificial Intelligence Club

Caileigh Mar
PCC STEM Competition Society

Judging Criteria

  • Innovation & Creativity
    Is the idea original, or does it offer a fresh twist on a familiar idea? Judges will consider the creativity and originality of the team's approach. (25 points)
  • Technical Execution
    From the demo video and repository, how much did the team build, how well does the project work, and how technically challenging was it for the team's experience level? （25 points）
  • Design & Usability
    Does the interface or user experience shown in the demo video look clear, understandable, and easy to use? （25 points）
  • Video & Devpost Submission
    Does the demo video show the working project and clearly explain the problem and solution? Does the Devpost write-up explain how the project was built and what challenges the team encountered? （25 points）

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Invite others to compete

Hackathon sponsors

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