Nordic sponsoring hackathons

Right before Web Summit - the "Davos for Geeks" - Nordic Semiconductor sponsored its second Hackathon in Dublin: the Hardware Hackathon. As a sponsor Nordic provides hardware and mentors for the participants at the event. Earlier this year we had our first participation at such an event in Las Vegas at the AT&T Code for car and home hackathon, where we also sponsored a cash prize. The experiences have been good so far, and the plan is to sponsor more events.

Image: Prototype of a traffic safety concept from the AT&T HAckathon in Las Vegas

For both hackathons there were a fair amount of hardware hacking, although the Hardware Hackathon in Dublin had a particular focus on hardware. Sponsors are typically software and electronics company, but in Dublin there was also providers of 3D-printers, CNC machines, and also an industrial design company. So if you wanted to create an innovative and appealing product - and present a fully working prototype - there was basically only one restriction: Time!

Now, if you peeked at one of the hackathon links above you will find that these websites are used and maintained before the events. Getting an impression about what goes on is a bit harder. The AT&T’s Code for Car and Home Hackathon is summarized on this page were you can find the winning project and a short video from the event. In Dublin a company called Inspired Startups recorded the event, but the videos are not published at the moment of writing. In the meantime you can watch and read about the previous Hardware Hackathon by following the above link.

Currently we are planning to sponsor more hackathons, and these will be duly announced at www.nordicsemi.com. We have some in mind, but we would much appreciate tips from the community. Are you aware of a hackathon with hardware focus that risk escaping our radar? Please let us know! Also, any comment on hackathons and Nordic's paritcipation is invited.