Name: Gear Up Hacks 2026
Start: 2026-10-03T09:00:00.000-04:00
End: 2026-10-03T18:30:00.000-04:00
Location: Gear Up Hacks 2026

Gear Up Hacks 2026 — “Gears of Change”

Gear Up Hacks is a one-day, in-person hackathon for middle and high school students (grades 6–12) in the Triangle. Whether you’ve never written a line of code or you’ve shipped a dozen projects, you’ll spend the day turning an idea into something real — and leave with new skills, new friends, and a lot of swag.

This year’s theme is Gears of Change: Using AI to solve the problems of today, to create the solutions of tomorrow. Build something that puts AI to work on a real problem — in your school, your community, or the world.

When: Saturday, October 3rd, 2026 Where: The Lincoln on Geer, Durham, NC Who: Students in grades 6–12 — total beginners welcome Cost: $25 registration (need-based waivers available — no student is turned away for inability to pay)

What to expect

A full day of building, from opening ceremony to demos and awards
Beginner-friendly workshops and mentors on the floor all day
Meals, snacks, and drinks provided throughout the event
Swag for every hacker — t-shirts, stickers, water bottles, drawstring bags, and more (spin the wheel!)
Prizes across multiple tracks, plus a Best Newcomer award just for first-timers

Build in any track

Web apps · Mobile apps · AI/ML · Cybersecurity · Game dev · Hardware · UI/UX design

Every project should connect to the theme by putting AI to work — but how you use it is up to you.

No team? No problem. Come solo, bring friends, or get matched into a team the morning of.

Schedule

Time	Event
8:30 AM	Check-in & breakfast	Doors open. Grab your badge, meet other hackers, and settle in.
9:00 AM	Opening ceremony & kickoff	Welcome, the rules, the tracks, prizes, and how judging works.
9:45 AM	Team formation & brainstorming	Find teammates, lock your idea, and choose your track.
10:00 AM	Hacking begins	The clock starts. Mentors are on the floor all day — just ask.
12:30 PM	Lunch	Refuel and keep building. The clock keeps running.
1:00 PM	Workshops & mentor sessions	Optional skill-building sessions running alongside open hacking.
6:30 PM	Projects due	Final submissions close. Make sure everything is uploaded and ready.
6:45 PM	Judging & project expo	Judges visit each team at their table. Show off what you built.
8:45 PM	Awards ceremony & closing	Winners announced across every track, followed by wrap-up and group photos.

Sponsors & Partners

Gear Up Hacks 2026 is proudly supported by ElevenLabs, MojoAuth, and 1Password — providing our hackers with credits, tools, and technical support to build faster.

Prizes & Perks

For every attendee

ElevenLabs Creator tier — 1 month free ($22 value) to build with best-in-class voice AI.

Overall Winning Team

ElevenLabs Pro tier — 3 months free per team member ($99 value each).
MojoAuth — 6 licenses for the winning team.
1Password — free accounts for one year (4 available).

Best Project Built with ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs Scale tier — 6 months free per team member ($330 value each).

Resources

ElevenLabs: Promo codes and technical support available to help you get started quickly.

Gear Up Hacks is organized by the Gear Up Foundation, a student-run nonprofit fiscally sponsored by Hack Club (a 501(c)(3), EIN 81-2908499).

Requirements

Submit your project on Devpost by 6:30 PM on Saturday, October 3rd, 2026. To be eligible for judging, your submission must include:

Project name and a short description of what you built and what it does.
The problem it solves and how your project uses AI to address it — this is the heart of the “Gears of Change” theme.
A link to your code (e.g. a public GitHub repository).
The track(s) you’re entering (Web app, Mobile app, AI/ML, Cybersecurity, Game dev, Hardware, or UI/UX design).
Team member names — everyone who worked on the project.

You’ll present your project live to judges at your table during the project expo (6:45 PM), so have it ready to demo. A short slide or screen recording is optional but not required.

Guidelines:

All building must happen during the event. You can come with an idea, but the code, designs, and models are created on-site on September 26.
Using AI tools, models, and APIs is encouraged — it’s the theme — but your project must be your own work, and you must be able to explain how it works and what you built.
One submission per team.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

2 non-cash prizes

1Password

3 winners

Free Subscription to 1password for 1 year.

Best Project Built with ElevenLabs

1 winner

6 months of our Scale tier ($330 value) per member.

Judges

Sunil Kumar Oliparmbil Rajan
Director at FUJIFILM Healthcare Americas Corporation

Adam Gaweda
Professor in CS at NC State

Gaurav Shah
Director at Fidelity Investments

Suzana Stoffel Martins Albano
Founding Attorney at Albano Law Office (Duke Law LL.M.)

Joseph Francis Albano
Professional Muscian

Sanjana Cheerla
CS PhD Researcher, AWS AI Engineer

Shekevia Washington
CDC in Wake County Public School System

Judging Criteria

Problem & Relevance — 20 pts
How clearly you define a real, specific problem and link your solution to it. Best scores: a problem you can explain in one sentence, a clear sense of who faces it and why it matters.
Technical Execution — 25 pts
How well your product actually works. We want a core feature that runs end-to-end in the live demo, sensible tech choices for the scope, and a team that can explain what they built and why.
Innovation & Creativity — 20 pts
How original and purposeful your idea and approach are. Strong projects show deliberate choices—an unexpected use case, a creative workaround, or a user-first design decision—not tutorial-following work.
User Impact — 15 pts
How clearly you name who benefits and why it matters to that specific group. Best scores give a concrete user and an immediate benefit; 'everyone' or 'people who need it' scores lower.