About

For the eleventh time, IEEE at UCLA is pleased to present IDEA Hacks, the largest hardware hackathon on the West Coast! We provide all our hackers with all the hardware, tools, and equipment that they need, including 3D printers and soldering stations, free of charge. Our hundreds of hackers will not only code, but create tangible products from scratch over the course of 36 hours.

Theme & Tracks

Welcome to Supercharge! This year, we're bringing an electrifying mix of innovation and energy to our hackathon!

⭐ Super Human ⭐ - Enhance aspects of your daily life and become your best self!

☁️ Super Nostalgic ☁️ - Take a journey back to your roots and embrace your old self!

⚡ Super (in)Sane ⚡ - Break the mold and discover your true self!

Schedule

4:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Check In

Covel Grand Horizon

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

Using SOC Boards (Digikey/Infineon)

Covel Grand Horizon

6:00 PM - 6:45 PM

3D Printing / CAD workshop

Conference Room 1

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Teambuilding workshop

Covel Grand Horizon

8:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Opening presentation

Covel Grand Horizon

8:40 PM

Team Registration Closes

9:00 PM

Hacking begins

Covel Grand Horizon

9:15 PM - 10:00 PM

Microcontroller Selection Workshop

Conference Room 1

10:00 PM - 10:45 PM

Wireless Connectivity workshop

Conference Room 2

11:00 PM

Venue Closes

Prizes

🥇 First Place 🥇

Flashforge Adventurer 5M 3D Printer

🥈 Second Place 🥈

AOC 27" 180Hz 1440p Gaming Monitor

🥉 Third Place 🥉

JBL Flip 6

⭐ Super Human ⭐

FitBit Inspire 3

☁️ Super Nostalgic ☁️

JBL Tune 720BT Headphones

⚡ Super (in)sane ⚡

Levitating Lightbulb Lamp

FAQs

Will I just be working the whole weekend?

Hacking for 36 hours shouldn’t come at the expense of your mental and physical health. To demonstrate how to stay healthy while working hard, we have many fun events planned throughout the hackathon including guided breaks and miscellaneous mini-games distributed throughout the event.

Who can attend?

All students interested are encouraged to apply regardless of your major or experience level! And although most participants end up being UCLA engineering students, we would love to welcome participants from any major and those outside the Bruin community :)

I don't know anything about hardware!

You are definitely not alone! Before the hackathon, we will have a hacking fundamentals workshop to provide you with all the baseline knowledge you need to hit the ground running once hacking begins! During the hackathon, there will be workshops on various technologies and techniques such as wireless communication and CAD that will be open to everyone. There will also be mentors and other hardware experts ready to assist those who are having trouble bringing their hacks to life.

History

IDEA Hacks was founded in 2014 by members of UCLA IEEE and Theta Tau Upsilon Delta. Ever since our first hackathon in January 2015, IDEA Hacks’ vision has been to provide engineering students with a space to learn, create, and inspire one another. As the first and largest hardware hackathon in California, we encourage interdisciplinary teams to build hands-on components as opposed to a software hackathon.