HudsonAlpha Tech Challenge

Two days. Real life-biotech problems. $10,000 in prizes. Open to students through working professionals. Let's Hack Genomics! HATCH is a two-day hackathon hosted by the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, where developers, scientists, designers, and students form teams and build working solutions to real problems in the life sciences. Since 2017, HATCH has brought together hundreds of participants across the Southeast, from first-time high school coders to life-long learners, around one idea: that the hardest problems in genomics and human health get solved faster when people from different disciplines are in the same room. You don't need a background in biology. You need curiosity and a willingness to have fun! How it works Saturday morning kicks off with the challenge reveal and team formation. If you don't arrive with a team, you'll leave with one. Teams are 3–5 people and we run a structured matching session. Mentors from HudsonAlpha and the Huntsville tech community circulate throughout, and workshops run alongside build time. Sunday afternoon, teams submit to Devpost and pitch to a panel of judges. Projects are scored on impact, creativity, technical complexity, product potential, and presentation. Finalists present live before awards. Who should come Software developers, data scientists, ML engineers, bioinformaticians, UX designers, product thinkers, and students. We run two divisions, high school and open, so teams compete against their peers. What to bring Laptop and charger, any hardware your idea needs, and a water bottle. Meals and snacks are provided throughout.