{"id":18682,"date":"2025-10-17T05:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T09:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/?p=18682"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:18:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T20:18:00","slug":"ds-x-hackathon-toolkit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/2025\/10\/17\/ds-x-hackathon-toolkit\/","title":{"rendered":"DS + X Hackathon Toolkit: For Hackers &#038; Mentors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Get ready to unleash your inner innovator, because BU Spark! and CDS are hosting the first-ever <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/2025\/10\/21\/students-prep-for-ds-x-hackathon\/\">DS+X Hackathon<\/a> \u2014 a two-day creative sprint where data science collides with everything else.<\/p>\n<p>Think coding meets creativity, algorithms meet artistry, and insights meet impact.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re a data wizard, designer, storyteller, or social change-maker \u2014 this is your playground. You\u2019ll form teams, tackle real-world challenges, and prototype data-driven solutions that could shape the future.<\/p>\n<h3>What is DS + X?<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s data science + your something: health, climate, public policy, AI, finance, and more. If it\u2019s your passion, it\u2019s in play.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re here to prove that data science isn\u2019t a silo \u2014 it\u2019s the ultimate collaborator.<\/p>\n<h3>Student Toolkit: Your Hackathon Survival Guide<\/h3>\n<p>Here\u2019s everything you need to thrive, vibe, and hack your heart out.<\/p>\n<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-2.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of students working and talking together on the 17th floor of the Duan Family Center for Computing &amp; Data Sciences\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\" wp-image-18695 alignright\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-2.jpg 1795w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-2-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-2-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-2-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-2-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Bring your curiosity.<br \/>\nYou don\u2019t have to be a coder \u2014 just bring ideas, energy, and an open mind.<\/li>\n<li>Find your people.<br \/>\nForm teams on-site or in advance. Or come alone, and we\u2019ll help you find a team. The best ideas come from mixed minds \u2014 data scientists, artists, economists, policy thinkers, all together.<\/li>\n<li>Pack your essentials.\n<ul>\n<li>Laptop + charger + headphones + reusable water bottle and snacks<\/li>\n<li>Personal items like a toothbrush, deodorant, pillow or blanket, or sleeping bag. The building can get cold at night, so warm layers or blankets are recommended.<\/li>\n<li>Your imagination \u2014 seriously, pack that one<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Plan your 24(ish) hours.<br \/>\nHackathons are marathons with better playlists. Pace yourself, take stretch breaks, and remember: sleep is optional, but collaboration isn\u2019t.<\/li>\n<li>Know your resources.<br \/>\nMentors will be everywhere \u2014 ask questions, test your ideas, and get feedback early and often. Plus, Workshops will be provided on a range of topics from design101 with Figma, APIs, GenAI, and vibe coding best practices. Even BU Libraries has provided a list of curated datasets.<\/li>\n<li>Tell your story.<br \/>\nAt the end, it\u2019s not just about code \u2014 it\u2019s about communicating your why. Judges love clear, compelling pitches that connect the dots between data and impact.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Mentor Toolkit: Be the Spark!<\/h3>\n<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of student pointing at paper that has &quot;Brainstorming&quot; written on it with bullet points\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"wp-image-18694 alignright\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/files\/2025\/10\/Hackathon-Image-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/h3>\n<p>Mentors are the heart of the hackathon \u2014 the ones who help teams push past \u201cstuck\u201d and into \u201caha!\u201d territory.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Your role?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Guide, don\u2019t steer. Let students own their ideas.<\/li>\n<li>Ask questions that open doors (\u201cWhat data do you need to prove that?\u201d)<\/li>\n<li>Share quick wins, frameworks, and hard-earned lessons.<\/li>\n<li>Celebrate effort as much as outcome \u2014 innovation thrives on encouragement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mentors from industry, academia, and beyond will share their wisdom on topics such as responsible AI, ethics in data, UX design, and data storytelling.<\/p>\n<h3>Themes, Prizes, and Pure Innovation<\/h3>\n<p>Expect challenges that include helping to HackBU, ArtHack, and First Hacker Track \u2014 all inspired by the \u201c+ X\u201d spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Winners earn more than just prizes \u2014 they\u2019ll get showcased by Spark! and CDS featured on our websites, and maybe even find a future research or internship opportunity along the way.<\/p>\n<h3>Get Ready to Hack the Future<\/h3>\n<p>Power up your laptops. This isn\u2019t just a hackathon \u2014 it\u2019s a data-powered creativity lab where bold ideas meet real-world change.<\/p>\n<p>Can\u2019t be there? Stay tuned for highlights, winning projects, and the ideas that emerged when data science met everything.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span><a class=\"button-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/ds-x-website-production.up.railway.app\/\">Learn More<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Join BU Spark! and CDS for the first-ever DS+X Hackathon \u2014 a two-day creative sprint where data science meets innovation and real-world impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18839,"featured_media":17828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,229,231,17,792,232,230,907,514,233,1],"tags":[343,525,376,22,902,550,901,551],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18839"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18682"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18727,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18682\/revisions\/18727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cds-faculty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}