👨‍💻 HACK WITH A PRO - Hackathon

LOS ANGELES • April 6, 2024

Welcome to Hack with a Pro! 🚀

We remember how daunting it can be to approach hackathons or personal projects without advice, and want to bridge the gap and make it more approachable for students of all backgrounds.

We are here to help with a 12-hour hackathon.

The difference? Each group will be paired with a working professional with years of industry experience. The mentors are UC alum who work at companies like Boingo, Fincons Group, Google, and Tebra.

What do you need? Come with the ⭐ freshest ideas ⭐ that will change the next generation.

*If you are planning to join LA Hacks in two weeks, we recommend you join to attend hands on workshops and get warmed up beforehand. It’s a strat.

Hack with a Pro 2024

Testimonials from Hack with a Pro 2023

Attendees have since gotten internships at Amazon, Epic, Deloitte, Northrop Grumman and more!

  • “I’m so glad I came and got to network with mentors and build my resume! I didn’t know what to do coming in, but the mentors and workshops were really helpful”

  • LinkedIn Testimonial - “As a UCLA student, I found the 12-hour hackathon to be an incredible learning experience where I had the chance to explore my interests in #ChatGPT, #mentalhealth, and #studentlife while learning the foundations of #UX/#UI design from industry professionals.”

  • “This is literally the best hackathon ever - it’s the best food (catered Siam Chan) and the most reliable internet.”

Check out pictures from last year’s hackathon!

 

First place team won Amazon gift cards and a phenomenal tour of Google’s Office!

Project - App for buying and selling meal swipes.

First Place Team at Google!

The team created a meal swipe buying/selling platform for college campuses

Details

  • Who: UCLA Students + neighboring LA colleges (computer science, cognitive science, data theory, etc)

  • What: 12-hour hackathon with industry professionals to help (UI/UX, SWE, Data Science, Data Engineers)

    • PRIZES

      • 1st Place - $150 Amazon gift card + Lunch with a Google engineer at Google’s Playa Vista Office

      • 2nd Place - $100 Amazon gift card

      • 3rd Place - Swag + Google water bottles

  • When: Saturday April 6, 2024 10am - 10pm

  • Where: Sepulveda (8 min away from UCLA campus)

    • This is our church building! We meet upstairs at a shared facility. The inside has a cool, upside down hipster wooden vibe (as shown in the group shot above).

  • How: Sign up here!

Themes/Tracks

Here are the Hack with a Pro 2024 themes/tracks:

  • AI Takeover: Help! AI is going to take over the world! Maybe in 50 years…for now, find a creative way to integrate AI into your project (bonus points if it doesn’t lead to the destruction of humanity).

  • Revolutionize Routine: Not feeling like doing your schoolwork? Or cleaning your room? Find a creative way to get you more motivated to get things done!

  • MindCraft: Mental health in young adults and youth is a serious issue in 2024. Can your project address the crisis that’s ongoing?

  • Turbocharging Tomorrow: Do our existing habits have a negative impact on the quality of life for future generations? Tackle the issue of sustainability in the city of Los Angeles!

Timeline

  • 09:15am - Rides from UCLA Luskin Turnaround (be prompt)

  • 09:45am - Mingling

  • 10:00am - Welcome

  • 10:20am - Hackathon Begins

  • 12:30pm - Lunch

  • 02:00pm - Intro to AI Workshop

  • 02:30pm - UI/UX Workshop

  • 04:00pm - Trivia Giveaway

  • 06:30pm - Dinner

  • 08:30pm - Judging

  • 09:00pm - Announcing Winners

  • 09:30pm - Clean Up

  • 09:45pm - Rides back to UCLA Luskin Turnaround

Sponsors

  • Acts2Fellowship is a Christian fellowship at UCLA started in 2013 🙏

  • Beard Papa’s is home of the World's Best Cream Puff. Made fresh daily in our on-site bakery. Unique flavors from Japan since 1999.

  • Tebra is a unicorn health tech startup, and the CEO is an UCLA alum 🐻!

  • TikTok is a social media platform where users create and share short-form videos, often featuring music, dance, comedy, and various trends.

  • Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake provides a light and fluffy experience with our Japanese cheesecakes. A light dessert for everyone of all ages.

    • UCLA students get a 20% discount 4/7 - 4/17 with proof of ID!

Mentors

FAQ

  • What do I need to bring?

    • Laptop and charger

  • How do teams work?

    • You can sign up in groups of up to ~6 people.

    • Don’t have a team? No problem, we will pair you up with other cool UCLA students :)

  • Who are the mentors and how do they help?

    • The mentors are current UCLA upperclassmen (who attended the hackathon last year) as well as alumni volunteers. Their role is to help guide students on technical challenges throughout the hackathon. These mentors are current engineers at Google, PDG, and Tebra to list a few.

    • Mentors will be roaming around and available for help (similar to a GSI)

  • Will there be food?

    • Yes, we will provide lunch and dinner - and snacks/caffeine during the event.

  • I don’t know how to code, but can I still join?

    • While it’s encouraged to know how to code, it’s not a requirement. Our mentors have curated some resources for you (see the Resources section under this).

  • How much does it cost?

    • This hackathon is completely free.

  • Recommended Software

    • You can code with any language - although our mentors have provided boilerplates for NextJS, Firebase, and ChatGPT API integration.

  • Will rides be provided?

    • Yes - please fill out the form if you need a ride.

  • Any other questions? Fill out the form at the bottom.

RESOURCES

Confused? Not sure where to start? The HWAP team has compiled a set of technology stacks to get you started.

Browse to https://github.com/Hack-with-a-pro/hackathon-boilerplates to avoid the overhead of creating a whole new project!

We are < 24 hours away from Hack with a Pro 2024 which means...THEME DROP! These are our themes/tracks for this year...head over to our website (link in bio) to see what each of these are about!
🎉SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT🎉: Uncle Tetsu Uncle Tetsu (located on Sawtelle Bl) makes fluffy Japanese cheesecakes that feel like clouds ☁️. From April 7 - 17, UCLA students get 20% off (with student ID)! Thank you Uncle Tetsu for sponsoring Hack with a Pr
🎉SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT🎉: Beard Papa's Beard Papa's (located on Sawtelle Bl) specializes in gourmet giant cream puffs. Matcha, vanilla, chocolate, Oreo just to name a few flavors! Thank you Beard Papa's for providing Hack with a Pro 2024 with boxes of
SNEAK PEEK OF THEMES!! We're 3 days away from hacking...any guesses on what this year's themes will be? Tune in for our official theme drop on Friday!
🎉SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT🎉: TikTok @tiktok is video-hosting social media platform that connects people around the world, with over 1.5 billion installs! Thank you TikTok for sponsoring Hack with a Pro 2.0!
🎉SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT🎉: TEBRA Tebra is a company that develops healthcare software, supporting over 150,000 healthcare providers and reached unicorn status with a valuation of over $1 billion in 2022. Fun Fact: CEO Dan Rodriguez was a UCLA Alum!🐻🧸
Launching our second-ever ‘Hack with a Pro’ on April 6th! Dive into a day of coding and innovation alongside industry experts from companies like Google and beyond. Whether you’re aiming to solve complex problems or just looking to
#tbt the top 3 winning teams at last year's hackathon...that could be YOU this year 👀 Applications for Hack with a Pro 2.0 are now live! Check the link in our bio to sign up!