Rules#
Official hackathon rules and judging guidance for Wacode 2026.
- Eligibility: Participants must be currently enrolled Baylor students and must register before April 17, 2026.
- Build Window: Projects must be developed between 7:00 PM on April 17, 2026 and 6:00 PM on April 18, 2026.
- Allowed Base Code: Public libraries, starter templates, and development tooling are generally allowed but should be declared. We will check commit timestamps to ensure honest use.
- Submissions: Working demo or prototype by the deadline; source code must be in a GitHub repository with access for organizers.
- Team Participation: Projects must be built by team members present at the event.
- Conduct & Originality: Teams must follow Baylor conduct expectations and avoid plagiarism or unauthorized use of proprietary content. Please don't commit any felonies.
Prompt
"Build software that uses technology for social good, improves lives, or solves real community and humanitarian challenges."
Brainstorming issues to solve (not an exhaustive list)
- Food insecurity and hunger
- Housing instability and homelessness
- Access to healthcare and mental health services
- Education inequality and resource gaps
- Climate change and carbon emissions
- Disaster response and emergency relief coordination
- Clean water access and sanitation
- Clothing and textile waste
- Plastic pollution and ocean waste
- Transportation access and mobility inequity
- Digital divide and lack of internet access
- Unemployment and job accessibility
- Financial literacy and economic insecurity
- Disability accessibility and inclusion
- Violence and personal safety
- Refugee and migrant support
- Food waste in supply chains and households
- Public health awareness and disease prevention
- Social isolation and eldercare support
- Misinformation, media literacy, and trusted news discovery
- Language and translation barriers
Example projects
- A mobile app with a GUI and map that helps HEB shoppers find their items as fast as possible (TSP problem)
- A Chrome extension that detects US zip codes in webpages and overlays social determinants of health (SDoH) data from a public database
- An app that converts complex government or legal documents into plain-language summaries for everyday users
- A web platform that tracks secondhand clothing shipments to visualize textile waste flows and raise awareness of consumption impact
Guidelines
- ~24 hour build window
- Deliverables: working prototype/demo, 2-minute pitch
- Make sure the same technology does not already exist in the form you intend to create. If similar tools exist, explain how your idea is novel or improves on them.
- Demonstrate your project's social impact and how it could be developed further.
- Go big or go home! Part of the rubric rewards technical ambition.
Main Track Rubric
Each category is scored from 1-10 for a total of 60 points.
| Category | Description | Score Range |
|---|---|---|
| Utility | How effectively does the project contribute to solving the chosen problem? | 1-10 |
| User Interface/Experience | How clean is the interface, and how easy is the project to navigate and use? | 1-10 |
| Completion/Craftsmanship | Does the project work as intended? Did the team achieve its goals and go beyond baseline expectations? | 1-10 |
| Technology | How technically impressive is the solution? Does it address a difficult problem, use clever techniques, or combine components in a way that creates a clear “wow” factor? | 1-10 |
| Security | How well does the project protect users and data? Consider authentication, authorization, input handling, secrets management, and safe defaults. | 1-10 |
| Presentation | Teams have 2 minutes to present. How clear and compelling is the pitch, and how well does the team explain the problem, solution, and demo within that window? | 1-10 |
Beginner Track Rubric
Each category is scored from 1-10 for a total of 50 points.
| Category | Description | Score Range |
|---|---|---|
| Market need, utility & viability | How clearly does the team define a real problem and audience, show the solution is useful, and discuss whether the idea is realistic—who or what else addresses this need, whether demand and positioning make sense, and how users would find or start using the product? | 1-10 |
| User Interface/Experience | How clean is the interface, and how easy is the project to navigate? Does the design look professional, intuitive, and user-centric (e.g., using Figma effectively)? | 1-10 |
| Execution & Prototype | Did the team successfully bring their idea to life? Does the Figma prototype or Lovable app effectively demonstrate the core features? Did they achieve their goals without needing deep technical infrastructure? | 1-10 |
| Innovation & Creativity | How unique is the approach to the problem? Does the idea stand out in the market, or does it cleverly combine existing concepts to create a clear “wow” factor? | 1-10 |
| Presentation | Teams have 2 minutes to present. How clear and compelling is the pitch? How well does the team explain the problem, the business case, the solution, and showcase the demo within that strict window? | 1-10 |