Macathon
November 8 & 9, 2024
The Entrepreneurship Department is proud to announce the 2024 Macathon winning teams! First Place: Visionary Change Makers – Laurice Jimu ’27, Shakti Palraj ’27, Aditya Choubal ’27, Makol Choul ’27, Maggie Walker, Rocky Slaymaker ’27; Second Place: Gear 5 – Pema Dolkar ‘ 25, Alexis Prathammanon ’25, Elizabeth Zewdu ’26, Isam Hussaini ’26; and Third Place: Pirate Solutions – Aahana Tribrewal ’25, Luke Rowley ’27, Kari Vivar-Cortez ’27, Basir Talayee ‘ 25. Thank you to our supportive and amazing mentor judges for another fabulous year!
Macathon is a twenty-four hour idea-building competition that connects students with alums. All-Nighters, All Innovators: Highlights from Macathon 2023.
Macathon, is an overnight innovation and creativity contest. In teams of 3-6 participants, students put their liberal arts education into action and invent a unique and original service or product (website, application, physical product) that solves a real-world problem. No preparation work is allowed; everything for the competition must be produced within the 24-hour period.
Winning teams will receive over $2000 in cash prizes!!
- 1st Place: $1,000
- 2nd Place: $750
- 3rd Place: $500
At the beginning of the competition, each team is paired with a group of 4-6 alumni judges. Judges sign up from around the world specifically to mentor and evaluate Macathon teams. Each team will prepare and deliver a 7-minute verbal/visual video presentation of their product or service. Students will be judged on their identification and understanding of a real-world problem, their solution, and their presentation. The three highest-scoring teams in the final will be awarded cash prizes!
Please join us for Macathon final presentations in John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center.
Important Dates
| Tuesdays, September 24, October 1, 8 | 12:00-1:00 pm Macathon Information Sessions – drop in to the Idea Lab to learn more! |
| Monday, October 7, 2024 | 9:00 am Macathon application open! Applications are accepted on a first come first serve basis with a total of 18 teams |
| Monday, October 14, 2024 | 9:00 am Macathon application closes |
| Tuesday, November 5, 2024 | 12:00-1:00 pm Macathon Orientation (in zoom) |
| Friday, November 8, 2024 | 4:30 pm Macathon begins! See full schedule here |
| Saturday, November 9, 2024 | 4:30-6:00 pm Macathon Final Team Presentations (in John B. Davis Lecture Hall, open to the community) |
| Saturday, November 9, 2024 | 6:00 Macathon 2024 Winners Ceremony |
Moves liberal arts into action, fosters innovation, and connects alums and students.
Photo: 2024 Macathon Dave Mao Keeping It Real Prize goes to “Morbius” for demonstrating a spirit of playfulness, joy, and possibility.
Additional Information
Macathon Pre-Work Disclaimer
The spirit of Macathon harnesses the creativity and innovation found throughout the liberal arts experience and wraps it up in a 24-hour competition. Please respect the spirit of this competition by not completing any pre-work. Pre-work is defined as any action directly tied to the solution of a problem or opportunity. While you may engage in problem or opportunity-identifying actions, you may not work towards a solution. The Entrepreneurship Department reserves the ability to disqualify any participants who we determine to have engaged in pre-work. If you are worried you might infringe on this policy or have any questions, please contact Jody at [email protected]
Examples of acceptable pre-work:
- Brainstorming with your friends about problems or opportunities you see in the world.
- Creating a list of things that bug you.
- Researching a specific problem in the world with the intent of better understanding the problem itself.
Examples of unacceptable pre-work:
- Brainstorming potential solutions to a problem.
- Researching solutions that currently exist.
- Creating the theoretical framework of a solution.
- Writing code or creating a product with the intention of using it during the competition.
- Acquiring the necessary components of your solution that you would use during the competition.
- Having a solution already created in which you will use as your service or product.
- It cannot be a variant or “innovation” of an existing solution that you have designed.