Registration Link : Click here
About the challenge
Launching this spring, LakerHacks is SUNY Oswego's student led annual hackathon a 24 hour event where students design, code, and innovate. With hands on workshops and fun activities, it's the perfect place to learn, create, and connect.
LakerHacks is a beginner friendly hackathon hosted on SUNY Oswego's campus for all college students of any major. Our goal is to help develop and enhance students' technical skills to prepare them to be competitive applicants in technology-related careers.
This in person event will take place on April 18th-19th in Marano Campus Center. Join us for a weekend of project building and workshops.
No matter your experience level, LakerHacks is about learning, collaborating, and having fun while creating something meaningful.
Prizes
[MLH] Best Use of Gemini API
[Google Swag Kits]
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?
[MLH] Best Use of ElevenLabs
[Wireless Earbuds]
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!
[MLH] Best Use of Solana
[Ledger Nano S Plus]
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!
[MLH] Best Use of Presage
[Fitbit Inspire & Presage Perks]
Presage is pioneering the Human Sensing Layer, enabling any application to understand a person’s real-time physical and emotional state. With Presage, you can leverage clinically-proven vital signs, movement, emotion, and/or focus tracking to build a project that gives the standard camera super powers.
Use any of the Presage SDKs to integrate capabilities like real-time heart rate, breathing rate, engagement levels, and facial expressions into your hack with just a few lines of code.
Immersive Gaming & Entertainment: Dynamically change game difficulty or story elements based on a player's excitement or focus levels.
Contactless Wellness & Fitness: Build a non-invasive app that monitors stress, recovery, or fitness performance.
Accessibility & Security: Utilize vital signs for effortless authentication, or to enhance accessibility.
Productivity: Design a tool that tracks focus or stress.
Build your next hack with Presage and show us the future of human-computer interaction! Win awesome prizes along for with the following perks from the Presage team:
Free refills for Presage Development credits to accelerate you through your next three months of building
30% off all Presage usage charges for your first year after going live
[MLH] Best Use of Snowflake API
[Raspberry Pi 4]
Play with industry-leading LLMs on a single account using the Snowflake APIs. Adding AI capabilities into your application can be as simple as a single CURL command to Snowflake’s REST API.
Build customized applications, RAG powered chat bots, or embed AI-powered features into your app in half the time with half the hassle. Get started for free with a special, student 120-day Snowflake trial and check out this repository for an example of the Snowflake REST API in action.
[Main Track] (Theme : Sustainability)
Prize : Hacker Kit (Portable Monitor, Amazon Gift card, Candle warmer,Black Decker Coffee Maker)
Sustainability is all about living and working in ways that protect our planet for future generations. This track dives into the essential topics that make up a greener lifestyle from celebrating Earth Day and understanding your carbon footprint, to using smart food apps that cut waste and tools for tracking your energy usage at home. You'll also discover practical eco-friendly hacks you can start today, plus the bigger picture of reducing waste in your daily life. Whether you're just starting your green journey or looking to level up, this track gives you the knowledge and tools to make a real difference — one small, sustainable step at a time.
Detecting Real-Time Compliance Drift
Systems don’t become non-compliant overnight; they drift over time as configurations change, users gain access, and policies are forgotten.
Your challenge is to build a system that:
Tracks the state of a system over time (or across snapshots)
Detects when it drifts out of compliance in real-time
Identifies what changed and why it matters
The goal is to help organizations catch compliance issues as they emerge, not during audits. For this challenge, you may choose any common compliance framework (e.g., HIPAA, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, SOC 2, etc.)
Core Requirements
Track two or more system states (before/after or time series)
Define compliance rules for the system based on your chosen compliance framework
Detect and report:
Violations
Changes that caused them
Example
Bucket ‘logs-prod’ became public between snapshot A and B which violates the “Access Control (AC)” security control.
Bonus Ideas
Timeline visualization of compliance state
Git-style diff for infrastructure/compliance
Alerting or rollback suggestions
Best UI/UX Hack
[Digi Cam]
Best User Interface will win this track :)
Best Beginner Hack
[$25 Roblox Gift card + Choice of Assorted Lego Flower Set]
In order to submit to this track, this must be your first hackathon!
Best Hack
[The Hacker Kit: Portable Monitor, Black Decker Coffee Maker, Amazon Gift Card, Cup Warmer]
Main Track: Everyone should select this track regardless.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
To be Anounced
Judging Criteria
-
Technical Implementation
We’ll look at how well your project works and how you built it. We’re interested in your effort, how you applied what you know, and how you solved problems. Beginners are welcome, and we encourage creativity and learning along the way.
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Tell your friends
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.














