What is BuildFest?
BuildFest is a weekend-long social impact build sprint where students use emerging technology to prototype solutions to real community challenges. It is designed to be welcoming, interdisciplinary, and hands-on.

The Theme: Belonging
This year’s theme is Belonging. We are inviting teams to explore what it means to feel seen, accepted, and connected, and to design experiences that support more inclusive, empathetic communities.

Who Should Participate
BuildFest is open to students from all backgrounds and majors. No coding experience is required. We care more about curiosity, collaboration, and thoughtful ideas than technical polish.

How the Weekend Works
Friday is for onboarding, ideation, and team formation. Saturday is for building your prototype with mentor support. Sunday is for presenting your work, receiving feedback, and celebrating what you made.

Weekend Schedule

  • Friday
    • 3:30 PM: Check-in opens
    • 4:00 PM: Welcome
    • 4:30 PM: Scenery tech intro
    • 6:30 PM: Design workshop
    • 7:15 PM: Team formation/Introductions
    • 8:00 PM: Dinner
    • 8:30 PM: Creative brief development
    • 11:30 PM: Creative briefs due
  • Saturday
    • 9:00 AM: Morning arrival + coffee
    • 10:00 AM: Scenery team check-ins
    • Daytime: Build time with mentor support
    • 4:30 PM: Pitch workshop
  • Sunday
    • 9:30 AM: Final materials due
    • 10:00 AM: Presentations begin
    • 11:30 PM: Awards
    • 12 PM: Event close

Requirements

Creative Brief
Each team must submit a creative brief by Friday at 11:30 PM. The brief should include:

  • Problem statement
  • Proposed solution or elevator pitch
  • Specific Scenery features you plan to use
  • What your MVP will look like by Sunday
  • Open questions you are still exploring

Prototype / MVP (Minimal Viable Product)
Teams should build a clear minimum viable prototype that communicates the core idea of the project. It does not need to be perfect, but it should be strong enough to demonstrate the experience and impact.

DevPost Project Page
Your DevPost submission should clearly explain the problem you are addressing, the solution you built, how the experience works, and what impact it is meant to have. Include any visuals, screenshots, or supporting documentation that help judges understand the project.

Final Presentation / Demo
Teams will present at their assigned table on Sunday. Each team will have 5 minutes to present followed by 2 minutes of Q&A. Final presentation materials and demos are due by Sunday at 9:30 AM.

Team Information
Your submission should include your team name and all participating team members. Make sure your final materials clearly show who worked on the project.

Deadlines

  • Creative Brief Due: Friday at 11:30 PM
  • Final Materials Due: Sunday at 9:30 AM
  • Presentations Begin: Sunday at 10:00 AM

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

3 non-cash prizes
1st Place
1 winner

Yahoo! Congrats on winning BuildFest :)

Each team member gets a certificate of completion, CMDI swag and festival/conference submission funding for their project.

2nd Place
1 winner

Each team member gets a certificate of completion, CMDI swag and festival/conference submission funding for their project.

3rd Place
1 winner

Each team member gets a certificate of completion, CMDI swag and festival/conference submission funding for their project.

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Nesrine Mansour

Nesrine Mansour
CU Boulder

Angelica Kalika

Angelica Kalika
CU Boulder

Roberto Azaretto

Roberto Azaretto
CU Boulder

Naharin Shech

Naharin Shech
CU Boulder

Judging Criteria

  • Specificity of Problem
    Does the project provide a solution to a problem that is hyper-specific and clearly defined? Does the project have clarity on what problem it's trying to address?
  • Alignment to the Theme of Belonging
    The theme of Belonging refers to the feeling of being seen, accepted, and valued within a group or space. Does this project significantly increase Belonging for a group of people? Does the project align with this theme?
  • Effective AR Design
    Is the concept that the team designed one that is uniquely suited for Augmented Reality? Does it use AR to address the problem in a way that couldn't be done using other tools/platforms?
  • Delivery on Concept
    How close is your demo to the design that you pitched? Does the demo emulate the intended user experience? Do any of the features actually work (vs. just faked)? How effectively did you use the features of Scenery to solve your social impact problem?
  • Presentation Clarity
    How clearly and effectively does the team communicate their idea? Consider storytelling, organization, and whether the problem, solution, and user experience are easy to understand within the time limit.

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Tell your friends

Hackathon sponsors

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.