About K-Dub Hacks

K-Dub Hacks is a 36-hour in-person hackathon in Kitchener-Waterloo, sponsored by MLH. There's no set theme, so bring whatever idea you want to build. Come with a team or find one at kickoff.

Anyone can participate, from first-time hackers to experienced developers, designers and data people. Students from any school are welcome.

What you get

  • Free food all weekend from local vendors, thanks to our sponsors
  • Cursor and Grok credits to build with
  • A $2,000 prize pool
  • A few more things we're working on with our sponsors. Stay tuned.

Where and when

Spur Innovation Center, 2240 University Ave, Waterloo, ON
November 27 to 29, 2026

  • Friday, 3:00 PM: Doors open and check-in
  • Friday, 6:00 PM: Hacking begins
  • Sunday, 4:00 PM: Submissions due
  • Sunday, 4:15 PM: Live demos
  • Sunday, 6:15 PM: Awards

Hosts

K-Dub Hacks is hosted by Corey Barron, with Abdul Aziz Hyder and the AWS Student Builders Group - Wilfrid Laurier University co-hosting. It's the same team that ran the RoadStar Hackathon.

Get started

Register here on Devpost, then show up Friday with your laptop and charger.
Register on MLH : https://events.mlh.com/events/15691-k-dub-hacks-in-waterloo

Requirements

What to Build

The theme of the Hackathon will be discussed at the opening ceremony, were excited to see you there!

What to Submit

  • A link to your source code in a public GitHub repo
  • A short description of your project
  • Screenshots or a demo video. Videos aren't required, but they're a good backup if something goes wrong during your live demo.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$CAD 12,000 in prizes
K-Dub Hacks Prize Pool
$CAD 2,000 in cash
1 winner

registrations
$CAD 100 in cash
100 winners

were giving away 100+ dollars worth of api credits for the first 100 resgistrations

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Corey Barron

Corey Barron
Owner, Enterprise Software Solutions

Lee Lynhiavu

Lee Lynhiavu
Ceo, First Sons Solutions

Judging Criteria

  • Technical Difficulty
    How hard was this to build, and how well does it actually work?
  • Creativity
    Is the idea original, or a fresh take on something that already exists?
  • Usefulness
    Does it solve a real problem that people would actually care about?
  • Design
    Is it easy and pleasant to use? Did the team think about the user experience?
  • Presentation
    How clearly did the team explain the problem, show what they built, and answer questions?

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Invite others to compete

Hackathon sponsors

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