Turn Ideas into Impact: Join the Build with AI Hackathon

Hosted in collaboration with OpenAI, this hackathon brings industry insight and practical perspective into how AI is being used in today’s academic setting and workforce.  Whether you’re brand new to AI or already experimenting with it, technical or non‑technical, this event is designed to give you hands‑on experience building meaningful, real‑world solutions.

Theme: AI for Every Discipline

At the heart of this hackathon is a simple but powerful idea: AI can enhance any field.

Participants will identify a problem within their academic or professional environment and use AI tools to prototype a solution. 

No matter your major, role, or experience level, you’ll collaborate, build, and explore how AI can support your goals.

What to Expect

Participants will use the university-provided ChatGPT Edu environment to access Codex including access to advanced features and reasoning models, to support their work during the hackathon.

If you have not already activated your account, we strongly encourage you to do so in advance of the event to ensure a smooth experience.

Click to get started with ChatGPT Edu.

This is a virtual experience, hosted on Zoom, designed to balance structure with creativity:

• A kickoff session with AI tips and best practices
• Dedicated time to build and experiment
• Ongoing support and guidance throughout the build session

Time	Agenda
12:00 PM	Kickoff, welcome, and hackathon introductions
12:20 PM	Best practices and demonstration
12:50 PM	Team formation and breakout setup
1:20 PM	Team intake form completion:  team name, members, project idea
1:45 PM	Hacking begins
2 - 5 PM	Open built time with optional 15-minute zoom sessions with OpenAI for questions and support
5:00 PM	Day one closes; teams may continue working asynchronously

 

Following the hackathon, selected teams will be invited to present their work in a short finalist showcase.

In-Person Workspaces Available

While this is a virtual event, participants are welcome to work in person at Adobe Creative Commons in Kahlert Village, where dedicated workspaces, monitors, and collaboration suites will be available to support team productivity and creativity.

 

Challenge Tracks

To help guide project ideas, participants can choose from several challenge tracks:

• AI for Productivity & Workflow
  Improve efficiency, automate tasks, or enhance decision‑making

• AI for Social Impact
  Address challenges in healthcare, education, accessibility, the environment, or local communities

• AI for Business & Innovation
  Explore new products, services, or operational improvements

• AI for Creativity & Communication
  Use AI for storytelling, design, content creation, or human‑AI collaboration

• Open Track (Wildcard)
  Pursue any idea that demonstrates a meaningful application of AI

Team Format

Participants are encouraged to work in teams of 3–5 in advance, fostering collaboration across diverse skill sets and perspectives.  You may also join a team during the hackathon / kickoff.

Prefer to work solo? That’s welcome too.

Judging Rubric

Impact (25%)

What is the project’s long-term potential for success, growth and impact? Does it fit into one of the problem statements listed above? Is the project useful, and for who?

Codex App (25%)

Built with Codex app – Tell a creative, end-to-end story of how Codex enabled the build with parallel agents and worktrees

Creative use of skills (25%)

Creative use of skills – Strong practical use of skills in Codex for coding workflows, developer tasks, and “non-technical technical work”

Demo & Pitch (10%)

Is the concept of this project novel? Is it presented and demo’d well? Is this a cool project to watch? Is this a demo, and NOT just a presentation, figma file, or anything else? How well has the team implemented the idea? How technical is their usage and implementation? Is this a project with sound engineering?

Feasibility & Scalability (15%)

Could this realistically be implemented or expanded?

 

Project Submission

Teams will submit a brief project summary along with any supporting materials.

Final submissions should include:

• Team name
• Project title
• Problem statement
• Project description
• Demo video
• GitHub repository link, if available
• Any additional resources or supporting materials

Teams may continue working remotely until Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM MT.

Selected teams will advance to a final presentation round.

Prizes & Recognition

Winning teams will receive event swag. In addition, the top three teams will be awarded AI development credits from OpenAI (not applicable to health sciences participants).

Important Considerations

• Participants should use only public data in their projects.
• Teams may have the opportunity to share their work publicly, and standout projects may be highlighted beyond the event.

Why Participate?

This hackathon is an opportunity to:

• Gain hands‑on experience experience with AI tools and build with Codex
• Build a real project in a short timeframe
• Collaborate across disciplines
• Showcase your ideas

Who Should Participate?

• Everyone - non-technical and technical
• Students
• Staff
• Faculty
• Researchers

Get Involved

Click to register!

This page will continue to be updated as more information becomes available—stay tuned!

Helpful Links

• Access ChatGPT EDU
•  Access Codex through Your ChatGPT Edu Account 
• Please use public data only with AI Tools.  University data policy
• Submit your project by Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM MT
• Register for Finalist Presentations & Awards:  Friday, April 24 at 2 PM
• Hackathon website