CruzHacks 2023 a Smashing Success

CruzHacks 2023 Student Management Team. Top row left to right: Alper deCarion, Devan O’Boyle, Tony Ma, Sidhanta Sharma, Christopher Hein, Sean Kim, Mia Gallardo, Eliot Winchell. Bottom row left to right: Zachary Traczyk, Lia Fung, Shantelle Toh, Nelly Sin, Glomarie Ramos, Vivica Tran, Jiewen Li

This article written by the CruzHacks 2023 student management team.

CruzHacks, the largest collegiate hackathon on the Central Coast of California, made its return as an in-person hackathon this past weekend. After spending 2 years as a virtual hackathon, CruzHacks 2023 returned to the UC Santa Cruz campus from February 3-5, 2023. 

Nearly 400 students from across the country participated in CruzHacks 2023. Around 35% of participants were women or non-binary, 15% of participants were non-Computer Science/Computer Engineering students, and over 30% self-identified as being in an underrepresented group in tech. 

CruzHacks 2023 served over 3,000 meals across the 3 day event, and awarded over $36,000 in prizes. And of the hackers that checked in to the event, over 82% of them submitted a project by the end of the event - a remarkable number.

Accolades

“I saw so many amazing projects this weekend put together by hackers, and I’m so happy that our team was able to give them the opportunity and the resources to create and innovate. The past 2 years have been rough for students across the country. But what CruzHacks 2023 has shown is that students can’t wait to get back to learning and innovation. There were truly inspirational projects amongst our submissions, many of which were chosen as winners. I can’t wait to see what these talented hackers create in the future, and I’m so glad that we had a chance to help them along the way.

I also want to acknowledge the hard work that the entire CruzHacks 2023 team put into organizing this event. Although it’s only a 3 day event, our team of 19 volunteer students spent almost a full year putting it together. We faced many challenges - from the entire team not having experience organizing an in-person hackathon, to the event being delayed due to inclement weather in January. But through it all, we were able to put on this amazing event for all our students and attendees. I’m so proud and thankful for my team for pushing onward and creating an amazing experience for our attendees, allowing them to have access to the resources and motivation they need to further their learning and innovate.”

-Tony Ma, Co-President of CruzHacks 2023

The opening ceremony featured speeches from industry leaders, such as Michael Lopp (Senior Director of Engineering @ Apple) and Raghav Jandhyala (Chief Product Officer @ Microsoft Dynamics 365). More speakers were featured in the closing ceremony, such as Alexander Wolf (Dean of the Baskin School of Engineering @ UCSC), Nada Miljkovic (Co-Founder @ GetVirtual & Project Manager @ UCSC CIED), and Gregor Veble Mikić (Chief Aerodynamicist @ Joby Aviation). The CruzHacks 2023 opening and closing ceremonies also brought a blast from the past, featuring speeches from CruzHacks co-founders Mark Adams and Brent Haddad.

During the event, students worked for over 36 hours, creating innovative technical solutions for social good. Over 80 projects were submitted for judging in total. There were 8 prize categories offered by CruzHacks, and many more offered by CruzHacks 2023 sponsors.

Winners

Winning projects for each CruzHacks category included:

A full list of winning projects can be found at https://cruzhacks-2023.devpost.com/project-gallery. 

Major sponsors for CruzHacks 2023 included Niantic, Santa Cruz Works, the Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz, and the UC Santa Cruz Student Union Assembly.

About CruzHacks

CruzHacks is an annual, student-led, non-profit hackathon where people can collaborate, network, and wield technology to solve problems. It was founded in 2013 as Hack UCSC by Mark Adams, Brent Haddad, and Doug Erickson. Each year, CruzHacks welcomes hundreds of college and high school students interested in developing technology for social good. CruzHacks strives to empower the next generation of creators by providing the tools, environment, and motivation to plausibly solve real-world problems. CruzHacks’ initiative is to expand diversity in tech by sparking the drive to innovate within all our participants.

The CruzHacks 2023 Organizing Team was led by co-presidents Tony Ma and Eliot Winchell. The full list of 19 students who made CruzHacks 2023 possible can be found at https://2023.cruzhacks.com/team. 


More information on CruzHacks 2023 is available at https://2023.cruzhacks.com/.

Doug EricksonCruz Hacks, Naintic, UCSC, Baskin School of Engineering, Tony Ma, CruzHacks