Kickoff in ---d --:--:-- Jan 30 · 10 AM ET

Build for 36 hours.
Watch the sun rise over the city.

InfraHacks is a free, in-person hackathon for the built world: housing, transit, energy, and construction. One weekend, 150–200 of the most driven student builders in Ontario.

Jan 30–31, 2027 36 hours · in person Ontario, Canada 150–200 hackers

Get notified when apps open How the weekend works

scroll to pass time · ☀ → ☾

The event

Software ate every industry except the ones that build the world.

Housing, transit, energy, construction: the biggest under-digitized industries on the planet, and almost nobody points student builders at them. For one weekend a year, we do. Real challenge briefs written with industry sponsors, real judges, AI tools encouraged from the first commit.

150–200
hackers on site
36
hours on the clock
90+
hackers · edition one
6
sponsors · edition one

I'm a civil engineering student. My degree covers the physical side of cities and barely touches software, and most software students never touch infrastructure. InfraHacks exists because the overlap is where the interesting problems live. Nishant Shah, founder

How it works

One weekend, told in hours

HOUR 0Sat · 10 AM

Opening ceremony

The challenge briefs drop live, written with industry sponsors: first time anyone sees them. Find a team on the floor if you came solo. The clock starts before noon and sponsor booths open.

HOUR 18Sun · 4 AM

The long middle

Mentors on the floor, an industry panel mid-afternoon, sponsor office hours into the evening. The sun sets on the venue and half the room is still heads-down at 4 AM.

HOUR 36Sun · 10 PM

Ship it

Submissions close at 6 PM: repo, a demo video under three minutes, a write-up. Finalists demo live for the judges, and winners are called at the closing ceremony.

Who gets in

We read for curiosity, craft, and grit.

We don't publish the challenge briefs ahead of time; they drop at kickoff, so nobody pre-builds. We read your application for how you think and what you've actually made. No pedigree required: first-timers are a huge part of the field. And you don't have to be a coder: a Design & Systems stream runs alongside the build stream, so planning, environment, and civil students compete with models and plans instead of code.

We look for
  • People who make things: code, hardware, zines, clubs, spreadsheets that got out of hand
  • Curiosity & taste: you notice problems before anyone hands you one
  • Grit: you teach yourself hard things and push through 3am walls
  • Kindness: the person who makes the room better
We don't care about
  • Your school, GPA, or résumé polish
  • Whether you've ever hackathoned before
  • A pre-baked project idea
  • Knowing the "right" tech stack
Typical details

The kind of thing that wins

Examples, not assignments. The real briefs drop at kickoff.

Build stream
  • The accessible route, not just the fast one: a transit tool that plans around stairs, snow, and broken elevators
  • A building that shaves its own peak: software that schedules power use around demand spikes
  • Hear the leak before the sinkhole: a cheap sensor and a model that flags failing water mains early
Design & systems stream
  • Know where the heat lands: a simulation of which blocks a heat wave hits hardest, and what shade would do
  • A street that floods on purpose: a block designed to absorb a storm instead of drowning in it
  • Density without demolition: adding homes to a block without erasing what's there
Prizes & perks

Build something real. Win for it.

You're judged on what you ship in 36 hours, not what you brought. A real pool of cash and credits, and it grows with every sponsor we sign.

Cash + creditsacross the main track and four sponsor challenges. The full pool is announced when applications open.

The full breakdown, categories and what each one wins, drops when applications open. Every team also gets sponsor credits & tools at kickoff.

Sealed until launch

Prize slot one: locked, revealed when applications open

Sealed until launch

Prize slot two: locked, revealed when applications open

Sealed until launch

Prize slot three: locked, revealed when applications open
More incoming

The pool grows with every sponsor we sign.

Lineup unlocks when applications open

Want a slot in it? Back the pool

Timetable

The weekend, hour by hour

All times ET (UTC−5) · proposed schedule, final times set with the venue
Sat Jan 3010:00 AMOpening ceremony: challenge briefs drop live, first time anyone sees them
Sat Jan 3010:45 AMTeam formation: on the floor
Sat Jan 3011:30 AMHacking begins: the clock starts · sponsor booths open
Sat Jan 303:00 PMIndustry panel: people who run the built world
Sat Jan 306:00 PMMentor office hours: sponsor mentors on the floor
Sun Jan 316:00 PMSubmissions close: repo, sub-3-minute demo, write-up
Sun Jan 317:00 PMFinalist demos: live for the judges
Sun Jan 319:00 PMClosing ceremony: winners announced, sponsor thanks
Sponsors

Put your name on a challenge

A recruiting pipeline, not a logo wall. Challenge sponsors name a challenge, write its brief with us, seat their judges, and meet every team that builds on it. Edition one drew 90+ hackers and six sponsors; edition two goes in person with 150–200 builders.

Get the sponsorship package
Join the crew

Want to help run it?

The exec team
  • Nishant Shah: founder, co-director, tech and finance
  • Joshua Zhang: co-director, outreach
  • Kairav Tupil: Tech, Logistics
  • John Ma: logistics and finance
  • Ali Hadi: partnerships
Plus
  • Around ten organizers across outreach, marketing, logistics, and tech
  • More exec spots open right below

We're growing the exec team behind InfraHacks 2027: real leadership roles, not busywork. Spots open in sponsorship, marketing, operations, tech, design, and community.

No "senior" anything required: just reliable, a bit of a hustler, and down to build something real. You help run a hackathon end to end (and yeah, it looks great on a résumé). ~5 minutes to apply, pick your top 2 roles.

Apply to the team →
Questions

Asked often, answered here

Who can participate?
Students who can make it to the venue in Ontario for the weekend; applications are read for curiosity, craft, and grit, not pedigree. No infrastructure background needed: the briefs explain the domain, and every challenge is approachable from a general software stack.
I've never done a hackathon. Is this for me?
Yes. First-timers are a huge part of the field. Mentors are on the floor all weekend, and team formation happens right after the opening ceremony if you're coming solo.
Can I use AI tools?
Encouraged, not just allowed. Coding assistants, LLM APIs, generation tools: all fair game. You're judged on what you shipped against the brief, and on whether you can explain how it works.
What can I prepare beforehand?
Anything except project code. Environments, accounts, boilerplate, your team: all fine. Code written before the clock starts is grounds for disqualification; finalists walk judges through their commit history.
Do I need to bring hardware?
No. Most teams build software. If you own hardware and want to bring it, go for it; nothing about the event requires buying anything.
I'd rather design than code.
Good. The Design & Systems stream is for planning, environment, and civil students: physical models, urban-design concepts, infrastructure plans, judged on their own rubric.
Where exactly is it?
Ontario, Canada: venue announced before applications open. The event runs on site from Friday evening through Sunday noon, with overnight space to keep building.
What does it cost?
Nothing. Applying and competing are free, you're fed all weekend, five meals plus round-the-clock snacks and coffee, and sponsor-provided credits and tools are issued to every team at kickoff.

The city's waiting.

Applications open fall 2026. Drop your email and you'll be the first to know the moment they do, before we announce it anywhere else. Free, in person, 36 hours.

No spam, just one heads-up when applications open.