GDG McMaster Mac-a-Thon 2026

Overview

This is a 2-day in-person hackathon hosted by GDG McMaster focused on building solutions using Google Technologies. It's open to all skill levels, perfect for learning new things, meeting people, and creating projects that tackle important world issues. The event features workshops and a 'Build with AI' theme, similar to previous challenges.

Requirements

Participants must be post-secondary students aged 14 and older. Teams can be 2-4 people, and you don't need to have a team before applying. While the Intro to Hacking workshop on Friday, February 6th, 2026 is optional, attending on Saturday, February 7th and Sunday, February 8th is mandatory. Projects must use one or more Google Technologies and aim to solve a significant real-world problem. Submissions are done through Devpost and generally include visual aids, your codebase (like a GitHub link), and a prototype or screenshots. Overnight accommodation and travel reimbursements are not provided. You'll need to bring your laptop, charger, and any other development tools.

Prizes

There are 10 non-cash prizes available. The first place winner receives a Fujifilm Instax camera bundle, a coffee chat with InternInsider, and various subscriptions and memberships for learning platforms. Second place includes gaming equipment or a speaker, plus several subscription memberships. Special category prizes include Lego sets for 'Best Quality Education Hack' and 'Best Smart Cities Hack', along with various other subscription benefits. Additional prizes are awarded for 'Best Use of Gemini API', 'Best Use of Solana', 'Best Use of DigitalOcean', 'Best Use of ElevenLabs', 'Best Use of Snowflake API', and 'Best Use of Auth0', with prizes like Google swag, a Ledger Nano S Plus, a retro wireless mouse, wireless earbuds, an Arduino Tiny ML Kit, and wireless headphones respectively.