LancerHacks is the first free, student-led, 12-hour hackathon at Pasadena City College (PCC), hosted by She.Codes, STEM Competition Society, AI Club, and Data Science Club. The event brings students together to collaborate, experiment, and build original projects in a single day. Whether you are writing your first lines of code or have prior experience building technical projects, no previous hackathon experience is required.
Participants work in teams of up to six members to design, build, and present an original project based on a challenge revealed at the start of the event. Projects can take many forms, including web or mobile applications, AI/ML projects, data-driven tools, games, hardware projects, creative technology, and productivity or community tools. Teams may also choose to compete in additional sponsor tracks. While pre-existing complete projects are not allowed, teams are encouraged to use existing libraries, frameworks, APIs, datasets, open-source tools, and AI tools during development.
Throughout the day, attendees will have time to build, meet other students, connect with faculty and mentors, and enjoy free food and refreshments provided for lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks. The schedule includes an opening ceremony with the challenge and prize reveal, two build sessions, networking breaks, final project submissions, live demos, judging, and a closing ceremony.
Projects must be substantially developed during the hackathon. Each team submits one project via Devpost, including a description, technologies used, source code, and a video demo. Teams advancing to the second round must be prepared to give a short live demo and presentation. Judging criteria focus on Innovation & Creativity, Technical Execution, Design & Usability, and the quality of the Video & Devpost Submission.
Prizes include cash awards in Amazon gift cards ($300 for First Place, $200 for Second, $100 for Third, and $50 for Honorable Mentions), three months of ElevenLabs Pro access, and priority selection from a physical prize pool containing items like Stanley cups, headphones, power banks, and restaurant gift cards. Additional awards include an ElevenLabs Sponsor Prize for the best use of their tools and a specific award for the Data Science Track winner.