The Seventh National Hackathon will be held at the School of Industrial Engineering & Management, Shenkar, on September 24-25, 2024, and will involve students from all the relevant academic institutions in Israel and overseas. This year the national hackathon is most significant as it commemorates the centennial year of the National Association of Engineers and Architects in the Land of Israel.
For almost one hundred fifty years, the development of the economy in the Land of Israel was based on social, technological, and agricultural innovation. At the dawn of the 20th century, even before statehood was announced, in 1948, academic institutions for engineering, technology and science were established in the land. To wit, the internationally known Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, was founded at the behest of the well-known industrialists, Klonimus and David Wissotzky, and the author Ahad Ha’am, followed by the founding of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with board of founders that included Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Martin Buber. At about the same time social, industrial, and technological societies were established, including the Association of Engineers and Architects (AEAI). All these initiatives contributed to the creation of the State of Israel as a” Start-Up” nation, leading in engineering, technology, and science worldwide.
The participants in the Seventh National Hackathon deal or “hack” with professional challenges that are submitted by corporations, start-ups, and service organizations, both private and public. The students develop solutions, prototypes and paradigms that are presented to a panel of referees consisting of senior engineers, executives, and academic faculty members. The interdisciplinary teams of students that come from various academic institutions and departments are engaged for 36 hours continuously, without any time to rest or sleep, mentored by industry executives and academic faculty.
The criteria used to judge the teams’ deliverables are: The degree of innovation and creativity, technological feasibility, economic and business feasibility, the progress made re the solutions offered during the 36 hours period, and the expected technological, economic, and social impact (ESG). The awards to the teams that came first, second and third place are IS15,000, IS10,000 and IS5,000, respectively, or comparable amounts in US dollars.
The following two charts demonstrate the professional challenges presented to the participants at former National Hackathons (Top chart), as well as the representation of various academic institutions at these events (Bottom chart).
Past corporate participants in the hackathon include The Haier Corporation, M51 Gaming, Voyage Capital, e-Bay, Intel, Kupat Holim Clalit (HMO), Sha’arei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem, Mekorot Water Works, The Prime Minister Office, Davidoff Institute at Rabin Medical Center, Optimove and other startup ventures. We invite you – technology and industrial corporations – to take part in the Seventh National Hackathon, to propose professional problems and challenges for teams of students from multiple academic disciplines, as well as to provide sponsorship for this important, unique, national, event. We invite students, preferably female students, both undergraduate and graduate students from local and international academic institutions, to take part in the Seventh National Hackathon. The criteria used to judge the deliverables of the Sixth National Hackathon, are: Creativity and innovation, technological feasibility, economic and business feasibility, the progress made during the hackathon, the expected of the technological, economic, and social impact (ESG). The awards for the teams in the first, second, third places are IS15,000, IS10,000, IS5,000, respectively.
Special thanks to our partners of many years. Special thanks to all the academic institutions involved, special thanks to the Prof. Eran Toch, Chairman, Department of Industrial Engineering at Tel Aviv University, President of the Seventh National Hackathon, to each member of the National Advisory Board of the Seventh National Hackathon, The Steering Committee, Ms. Orit Efrati, Chair, Board of Governors, Shenkar, Shenkar, Prof. Sheizaf Rafaeli, President of Shenkar. Special thanks to the Ira Foundation for Business, Technology and Society that for more than fifty (50!) years sponsor and initiate the main national academic and professional activities, including the Bi-Annual National IE&M Conferences, the Bi-Annual National Research IE&M Conferences, and the Annual National Hackathons.
A short video of the Sixth National Hackathon.
You are all invited to attend the Seventh National Hackathon, enjoy the teamwork, the creative vibe, the interdisciplinary cooperation. Together we will celebrate the Centennial year of engineering and technology in the Land of Israel.
See you at the Seventh National Hackathon!
Prof. Ehud Menipaz, Founding Chairman, The National Hackathon
Founding Dean, School of IE&M, Shenkar
Chairman, Board of Governors, Association of Engineers, Architects and Academics in the Technological Sciences Israel (AEAI)
Chairman, Industrial Engineering & Management Association (AEAI)