Welcome to FormulaTech Hacks! 🏎️

FormulaTech Hacks is a two-day, in-person hackathon at the University of Waterloo bringing together students who love building, creating, and solving problems.

Over the weekend, you’ll work with a team to take an idea from concept to something you can actually show off. Projects can involve software, hardware, CAD, AI, data, or a combination of anything you’re interested in.

Along the way, you’ll have access to workshops, mentors, industry professionals, food, activities, and plenty of opportunities to meet other students. At the end of the weekend, teams will present their projects to judges and compete for prizes.

And despite the name, you don’t need to know anything about motorsport to participate. Whether this is your first hackathon or your tenth, FormulaTech Hacks is about trying something new, meeting people, and building something you’re proud of.

đź“Ť University of Waterloo
📅 September 26–27, 2026

Requirements

Teams must submit their project through Devpost before the submission deadline.

Your submission should include:

  • Project name and description explaining what you built and the problem you're solving
  • Technologies used
  • Photos, screenshots, or a demo of your project
  • Link to your code/repository, if applicable
  • Team member names
  • Prize categories you would like your project to be considered for

Projects should be created during FormulaTech Hacks. You may use existing libraries, APIs, frameworks, datasets, and other publicly available tools, but the core project should be developed during the hackathon.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$CAD 1,200 in prizes
Safety Diagnosis Track Winner
$CAD 50 in cash
4 winners

Safety Testing Track Winner
$CAD 50 in cash
4 winners

Safety Fixing
$CAD 50 in cash
4 winners

Ollon - Data Driven Motorsport Safety
$CAD 25 in cash
4 winners

Tangerine - Orange Flag
$CAD 50 in cash
4 winners

Ampere - AI For Motor Safety
$CAD 50 in cash
4 winners

TELUS - Best Connected Solution
$CAD 25 in cash
4 winners

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Areeb Khawaja

Areeb Khawaja
TELUS

Matt Clements

Matt Clements
Tangerine

Chris Ellefson

Chris Ellefson
OLLON

Ryan Oliver

Ryan Oliver
Ampere

Judging Criteria

  • Track 1: Safety Diagnosis
    Build a tool that detects or identifies a safety risk in real time, or before it becomes critical.
  • Track 2: Safety Testing
    Build a tool that tests or simulates a safety system under stress and failure conditions.
  • Track 3: Safety Fixing
    Build a tool that directly addresses an identified safety issue.
  • Tangerine – Orange Flag
    Whether managing a racing team, building a product, or serving clients, resources are never unlimited. Explore how technology can help motorsports teams go from R&D to the end of the last race of the season with money left in the bank.
  • Ollon – Data-Driven Motorsport Safety
    Build a solution that uses data to identify patterns, predict risks, or provide insights that could improve driver or vehicle safety in motorsport.
  • TELUS – Best Connected Solution
    Build something that gets smarter, safer, or more useful because it’s connected.
  • Ampere – AI for Motorsport Safety
    Develop an AI-powered solution that detects, predicts, or prevents safety risks in motorsport.

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Invite others to compete

Hackathon sponsors

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