Digital Ag Hackathon FAQs

Sep

14

to

Sep

15

Digital Ag Hackathon FAQs

Food, swag, workshops, networking and more! It may be virtual, but we're still including as many of the features you've come to expect at our hackathons!

All students from any degree program, in any major, any year in school are invited and encouraged to participate.

Ticket Sales Are Closed

VIRTUAL EVENT

FEBRUARY 19 - 21, 2021

SIGN UP HERE

About

A hackathon celebrates the use of minimal resources and maximum brain power to create outside-the-box solutions ("hacks") in a constrained time frame. HACK + MARATHON = HACKATHON

The 2021 Virtual Cornell Animal Health Hackathon is an interdisciplinary event which brings together students from across degrees, majors, and schools at Cornell, as well as other universities! On Friday evening, teams comprised of veterinary, business, engineering, and design students, form and begin to create solutions to needs in veterinary health care. On Saturday, mentors provide feedback and guidance to teams. On Sunday, the hackathon culminates in a project showcase to an audience of peers, mentors and representatives.

A panel of judges select winners and award $8,000 to winning teams.

The Game Changers

The hackathon will be held virtually this year. Students from any degree program, in any major, any year in school are invited and encouraged to participate. Workshops, speakers, networking, prizes, and more! It may be virtual, but we're still including as many of the features you've come to expect at our hackathons!

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where is the hackathon?

This year’s Hackathon will be held in a virtual format. Students and mentors will engage through an online platform designed to facilitate creativity and collaboration

Team Formation
Multiple sessions are offered for greater opportunity to find or form your team.

Tuesday March 2nd 5:30-6:30pm ET

Wednesday March 3rd 7:00-8:00pm ET

Thursday March 4th 6:30-7:30pm ET

Event 6:45pm ET Friday March 5 through 2:30pm Sunday, March 7, 2021

do i need a team to sign up?

The vast majority (90%) of participants sign up without having a team. Team formation sessions are provided the days leading up to the event. Everyone must be on a team to participate in the hackathon. Most participants find team mates during the team formation sessions. Teams must have a minimum of 4 members and no more than 6 members. Participants are strongly encouraged to form interdisciplinary teams.

Do I need an idea to participate in the Hackathon?

No. Students with ideas present their pitches to recruit other students to join their team. Students without ideas of their own are free to join any of the other Hackathon teams. Students will also use the challenges and resources we've compiled as a jumping off point to spark ideas.

What can you tell me about Sunday's Demos/pitches

Every team has an opportunity to present their hackathon project to a panel of judges during Sunday's Demos. Each team has 4 minutes to present their project (demo/pitch/etc). An additional 4 minutes is allotted to the judges to ask questions. The pitch order for teams is determined on Sunday morning after all the teams have submitted their projects. Judging Rubric Here

What is a hackathon?

This Hackathon is an interdisciplinary event that brings together students from a variety of schools from around the world. Students have diverse backgrounds including plant science, genetics, and breeding, engineering, agriculture, sustainability, vet med, and business to solve challenges in a fun and experiential learning environment. A hackathon celebrates the use of minimal resources and maximum brain power to create outside-the-box solutions ("hacks") in a constrained time frame. Students work in teams throughout the weekend to create holistic, viable solutions. Mentors provide feedback and guidance to teams, providing real-world context that enriches the student learning experience. The weekend culminates in a finale where teams showcase their innovation to industry representatives, participants, and other members of the campus community. A panel of judges score teams according to the judging rubric. The highest scoring teams are awarded monetary prizes.

How can the Hackathon benefit my career?

Students who participate in the Hackathon may build valuable professional competencies; Idea generation, problem-solving, forming and working within diverse multi-disciplinary teams, project management, branding and marketing, and delivering pitches are just some of the many skills students will practice in this experiential learning setting.

Mentors from industry, academia, information technology, and entrepreneurial start-ups will be on hand to serve as consultants to student teams throughout the weekend. This provides students with an unparalleled opportunity to network and develop valuable career contacts.

Can I earn course credit for participating in the Hackathon?

This hackathon is not associated with a course. Some professors may offer extra credit to students that participate. Any arrangements like this are between the student and the professor.

What is a hackathon?

The Cornell Animal Health Hackathon is an interdisciplinary event that brings together students from diverse backgrounds including veterinary medicine, engineering, and business to solve animal health challenges in a fun and competitive learning environment. A hackathon celebrates the use of minimal resources and maximum brain power to create outside-the-box solutions ("hacks") in a constrained time frame. Students work in teams throughout the weekend to create holistic, viable solutions. Mentors provide feedback and guidance to teams, providing real-world context that enriches the student learning experience. The weekend culminates in a final competition where teams showcase their innovation to industry representatives, participants, and other members of the campus community. A panel of judges will select winners of monetary prizes.

How can the Hackathon benefit my career?

Students who participate in the Hackathon will build valuable professional competencies applicable to a wide variety of both clinical and non-clinical career pathways. Idea generation, problem-solving, forming and working within diverse multi-disciplinary teams, project management, branding and marketing, and delivering pitches are just some of the many skills students will practice in this experiential learning setting.

Mentors from industry, veterinary private practice, academia, information technology, and entrepreneurial start-ups will be on hand to serve as consultants to student teams throughout the weekend. This provides students with an unparalleled opportunity to network and develop valuable career contacts.Previous mentors have included representatives from Encore Vet Group, Banfield, VCA, IDEXX, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Animal Health, Zoetis, IBM, Nestle Purina, Caring Hands Animal Hospitals, Vitus Vet, and Ethos Vet.

The event also features presentations from leaders in veterinary health care and business.

February 20 - Saturday

9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ET

Staff Desk

Pop in any time during these 12 hours to ask a question or just say hi! Staff include:
Ami Stuart '10, Tech Events Manager - Entrepreneurship at Cornell
Tushar MEng '14, Senior Software Developer - NYC Startup

Rose Pember '16 MS, Faculty - Parson's New School of Design

Aaliyah Holliday CALS '21 - Tech Events Assistant

Staff are actively on Slack all day until 10pm.

11:00 AM ET

Team Updates

Teams provide a live update to an online audience of Mentors. Update is an overview of the team's Project, Needs, and Goals. This gives teams an opportunity to get comfortable with public speaking and provides the mentors with an overview of what all the teams are working on and need help with.

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM ET

Mentors Visit Teams

Mentors visit teams to provide face-to-face feedback via zoom. Mentors visit the teams who they are able to help by entering into each team's Zoom room. To see an example click here

1:00 - 2:30 PM ET

Teams Needing Advice

Mentors are no longer visiting teams via zoom. If a team needs more assistance, they may jump into a zoom meeting to get real time face-to-face guidance from a mentor. To see an example click here

4:00 PM ET

Team Updates

Teams provide a live update to an online audience of Mentors. This is the last team update until Demos on sunday!

4:30 - 6:00 PM ET

Mentors Visit Teams

Mentors visit teams to provide face-to-face feedback via zoom. Mentors visit the teams who they are able to help by entering into each team's Zoom room. To see an example click here

6:00 - 7:30 pM ET

Teams Needing Advice

Mentors are no longer visiting teams via zoom. If a team needs more assistance, they may jump into a zoom meeting to get real time face-to-face guidance from a mentor. To see an example click here

February 21 - Sunday

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM ET

Staff Desk

Pop in any time during this hour to ask a question or say hi.
Staff include:
Ami Stuart '10, Tech Events Manager - Entrepreneurship at Cornell
Tushar MEng '14, Senior Software Developer - NYC Startup

Rose Pember '16 MS, Faculty - Parson's New School of Design

Aaliyah Holliday CALS '21 - Tech Events Assistant

9:00 AM ET

Team Formal Submission Due

Teams MUST complete their final project submission by 9am. This information is used to sort teams into rooms and determine the order of Demos.

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET

Teams Demos

Every team will pitch in one of five rooms to panels of judges. Each team will pitch 1 time.

1:o0 - 2:30 PM ET

Final Round Demos & Prizes Awarded

The teams with the highest points from each room pitch again, winners are announced and prizes awarded.

The Final Countdown!

Time left for the event days hours minutes seconds

The countdown doesn't work if the event start date is set to TBD

"A hackathon is running a marathon and then a mentor comes along and gives you a bicycle"

– cornell student, hackathon particpant

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I don't have an idea?

Plenty of other students do and they will be looking for team mates. Listen to other students ideas, reach out to learn more, and be prepared to join a team.

Team size? Don't have a team?

Teams must have a minimum of 4 members, up to a maximum of 6. Teams can be pre-formed. Students without a team should attend the Team Formation Session one week prior to the event.

What's the purpose of this?

A hackathon is experiential learning. A deep dive into a topic-a micro experience- to learn about yourself, how you fit into a team, your skill sets, unique abilities, & the many roles & responsibilities that go into creating a sustainable product/project.

Who owns the IP?

Cornell does not have ownership rights to ideas generated at the Hackathon. Ideas generated are, generally, in their very early stages, for which limited, if any, intellectual property is developed.

See U there(!)