TechTO Student Hackathon
Get ready for a 12-hour Hackathon from 9AM to 9PM designed for builders, dreamers, and doers!
Welcome to the Future of Interaction!
Join us for the TechTO Student Hackathon!
Tired of clicking, tapping, and swiping? So are we. This hackathon is your invitation to rethink how we engage with the world. Go beyond the screen - explore voice, gestures, and ambient signals that anticipate and delight. Reimagine daily routines and build the next generation of human-computer interaction.
Expect a high-energy day filled with innovation, problem-solving, and connection. You'll have access to mentors, workshops, and plenty of opportunities to network with fellow hackers, developers, and creatives.
Come solo or with a team — just bring your passion and curiosity. It's not just about the code; it's about the people, the process, and the potential. Let's build something great together!
Agenda
9:00am: Doors open, check in and grab coffee
9:45am: Welcome speech and walkthrough of agenda of the day
10:00am - 5:00pm: Hackathon time! Lunch will be provided at 1:00pm
5:00pm - 5:30pm: Voting and Pizza time!
5:30pm - 6:30pm: The top 3 teams will be selected for the judge panel. Play video-demos and Q&A
6:30pm - 7:00pm: Judges discussion
7:00pm - 7:30pm: Awards & Celebration
7:30pm - 9pm: Social & End of the Event
Host & Judges
Nael El Shawwa is a software craftsman and hands-on product and engineering leader with 20 years of experience delivering impactful web-based products across advertising, retail, and finance. He has led diverse teams of engineers, product managers, designers, and data scientists, fostering growth, experimentation, and excellence. At Perpetua, he scaled the engineering team from 10 to 70, drove ~5x revenue growth, and navigated three acquisitions, including a $150M sale to Ascential. Previously, he helped build Flashstock, acquired by Shutterstock for $50M, and led product engineering at Veriday and BMO. Nael is also the co-founder of #DevTO, a thriving tech community in Toronto.
Samit Khalsa is the Co-Founder of Penseum, which is an AI-powered learning platform built to help every student study smarter, especially those who feel left behind by traditional learning tools. Samit built it because school felt broken growing up, and he wanted to fix that. He is here trying to help students learn faster and stress less.
Thank you for our sponsors
If you would like to know more about our sponsor, please visit:
NEXT Canada