About LancerHacks 1.0

LancerHacks is the first free, student-led, 12-hour hackathon at Pasadena City College where students come together to turn ideas into real projects — all in one day. Hosted by She.Codes, STEM Competition Society, AI Club, Data Science Club, and B.E.T. Club, LancerHacks brings together students from across PCC to collaborate, experiment, and build. Whether you're writing your first lines of code or already have experience building technical projects, no prior hackathon experience is required.

Participants will work in teams of up to 6 members to design, build, and present an original project based on the challenge revealed at the start of the event. Projects can take many forms — web or mobile applications, AI/ML projects, data-driven tools, games, hardware projects, creative technology, and more.

Throughout the day, you'll have time to build, meet other students, connect with faculty and mentors, enjoy free food and refreshments, and turn an idea into something you can showcase in your portfolio.

Get started

Date：October 30th, Friday

Time：9:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Location：WiFi Lounge, Pasadena City College

Teams of up to 6
Beginner friendly — no experience required
Lunch, dinner, snacks, and refreshments provided

Schedule

9:00 – 9:30 AM — Opening Ceremony, Challenge & Prize Reveal
9:30 AM – 1:00 PM — Build Session
1:00 – 2:00 PM — Lunch & Networking
2:00 – 6:00 PM — Build Session
6:00 – 7:00 PM — Dinner & Networking, Final Touches & Project Submission
7:00 – 8:50 PM — Project Demos & Judging
8:50 – 9:00 PM — Winners & Closing Ceremony

Come with a team or meet new teammates through LancerHacks. Bring your laptop, your ideas, and your curiosity, we’ll take care of the rest.

Requirements

What to Build

Build an original technology project that responds to the LancerHacks Main Challenge, which will be revealed at the start of the hackathon. Teams may have up to 6 members. Your project can take many forms, including:

Web or mobile applications
AI or machine learning projects
Data science or visualization projects
Games
Hardware projects
Productivity, business, or community tools
Creative technology

Participants may also choose to compete in additional sponsor tracks announced by LancerHacks. AI tools are allowed. Teams may also use existing libraries, frameworks, APIs, datasets, open-source tools, and other development resources.

Projects should be substantially developed during LancerHacks. Pre-existing complete projects may not be submitted as new hackathon projects.

What to Submit

Each team must submit one project through Devpost before the submission deadline. Your submission should include:

Project name
Project description — what problem or idea you explored
What your project does
How you built it and the technologies/tools used
Source code or GitHub repository, when applicable
Video demo link

Teams must also be prepared to give a short live demo and presentation during the judging period IF you are to move on to the second round. Your project does not need to be fully polished or production-ready. A working prototype that clearly demonstrates your idea is enough.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$800+ in prizes

+ other prizes

First Place — Tier 1

$300 in cash

1 winner

The First Place team will receive:
$300 in Amazon gift cards,
3-months of ElevenLabs Pro access,
Priority access to the LancerHacks Physical Prize Pool.
( Note: Each member of the winning team may select one available item from the Physical Prize Pool. The First Place team receives first selection priority before the Second Place, Third Place, and Honorable Mention teams.
Physical Prize Pool items are subject to availability.)

Second Place — Tier 2

$200 in cash

1 winner

The Second Place team will receive:
$200 in Amazon gift cards,
3-months of ElevenLabs Pro access,
Access to the LancerHacks Physical Prize Pool.

(Note: Each team member may select one available item from the Physical Prize Pool after the First Place team has completed its selections.
Physical Prize Pool items are subject to availability.)

Third Place — Tier 3

$100 in cash

1 winner

The Third Place team will receive:
$100 in Amazon gift cards,
3-months of ElevenLabs Pro access,
Access to the LancerHacks Physical Prize Pool.

(Note: Each team member may select one available item from the Physical Prize Pool after the First and Second Place teams have completed their selections.
Physical Prize Pool items are subject to availability.)

Honorable Mentions (2x)

$100 in cash

2 winners

Two teams will receive Honorable Mention awards.
Each Honorable Mention team will receive:
$50 in Amazon gift cards,
Access to the LancerHacks Physical Prize Pool.

(Note: Each team member may select one available item from the Physical Prize Pool after the First, Second, and Third Place teams have completed their selections.
Physical Prize Pool items are subject to availability.)

ElevenLabs Sponsor Prize

1 winner

The team with the best use of ElevenLabs gets 3-months of Scale AI.

LancerHacks Physical Prize Pool

5 winners

Each member of an eligible winning team may select one available item from the prize pool. Selection priority will follow final placement:
- First Place
- Second Place
- Third Place
- Honorable Mention team (top 4)
- Honorable Mention team (top 5)

Confirmed prize pool items include:

4 Stanley cups, 4 Skullcandy headphones, 6 power banks, 5 Applebee's gift cards, 5 IHOP gift cards.

(Note: Prize selections are subject to availability. Higher-placing teams will select before lower-placing teams.)

Data Science, AI, Machine Learning Award

4 winners

The winning Data Science Track team will receive digital gift cards. To be eligible for this award, the project must qualify for the Data Science Track and meaningfully use, analyze, or interact with real-world or external data.
The Data Science Track winner may be selected from any eligible submission, regardless of whether the team advances to the final live judging round.

Judges

Dave R. Smith
PCC CS Professor

Audrey Ku
PCC She.Codes

Lilian Keshishian
PCC Data Science Club

Hilario Balajadia
PCC CS Professor

Augustus Le
PCC Artificial Intelligence Club

Caileigh Mar
PCC STEM Competition Society

Jamal Ashraf
PCC CS Professor

Ben Park
B.E.T. Club

Gamas Chang
American Young Coder Academy

Judging Criteria

Innovation & Creativity
Is the idea original, or does it offer a fresh twist on a familiar idea? Judges will consider the creativity and originality of the team's approach.
Technical Execution
From the demo video and repository, how much did the team build, how well does the project work, and how technically challenging was it for the team's experience level?
Design & Usability
Does the interface or user experience shown in the demo video look clear, understandable, and easy to use?
Video & Devpost Submission
Does the demo video show the working project and clearly explain the problem and solution? Does the Devpost write-up explain how the project was built and what challenges the team encountered?