After 30 hours full of designing, coding, building, hacking and eating the teams produced truly awesome prototypes ready for judging by our team of category judges. Teams competing for the overall prize prepared crowdfunding campaigns to market their product to the world with the winner being determined at Demo Day – our Top 6 pitching event on 2nd October 2015. The Top 6 teams were determined by a combination of the amount of money raised and the amount of backers.

THE HACKAGONG OVERALL WINNER IS… THE LOCATIONISER!

The Locationiser (Alex Gray and Antonin Ganner) is a device designed to scan a room from a single point and gain precise measurements, to display in as 3D blueprints. A hugely useful tool for engineers and architects working in existing spaces and other applications as well. The team utilised a number of different technologies such as IoT, 3D Printing and LIDAR to bring together their idea.

Alex and Antonin have won an amazing prize package worth over $52,000 including $5000 cash (WiseTech Global) + Business Mentoring (Liquid Co) + Web Hosting (Rackspace) + Coworking Desks (iAccelerate) + ACS Memberships and Flights to Melbourne to meet the Liquid Co team. The prize package will enable the team to kickstart their prototype into a fully fledged product.

If you’re interested in checking out The Locationiser, you can checkout their DevPost submission here:http://devpost.com/software/the-locationiser – Otherwise, you can support The Locationiser by heading to their crowdfunding campaign website: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-locationiser#

Other Category Prize Winners

In no particular order, here are the winners of each of the prize competition categories. More details about teams and their submissions can be seen on the https://hackagong.com website.

Best Design Prize
Winners: The Beaconing
What: 3D Printed Mobile Augmented Reality for everyone, everywhere
Prize: Creative Cloud and Tuts+ Subscription from Adobe and Envato

Most Creative 3D Printed Object
Winners: Post-Modern Puzzle Box
What: A way to keep precious things safe from those you intended to give it to anyway and enjoy the suffering of expectance
Prize: Me2 3D Printer from Me3D

Most Innovative 3D Printed Object
Winners: LAMP Diagnostics
What: Rapid, reliable, at-home infection test kits – for when you need results
Prize: Me2 3D Printer from Me3D

Best Use of Braintree/PayPal
Winners: Gift Starter
What: A better way to buy gifts for friends. Friends-sourced gift buying. Kickstarter for gift buying.
Prize: $2,000 cash, Sphero BB-8’s and Developer Survival Kits

Best IoT Device Hack
Winners: LAMP Diagnostics
What: Rapid, reliable, at-home infection test kits – for when you need results
Prize: Raspberry Pi’s, Particle Photon’s and Arduino Experimenters Kits from Hackagong and Jaycar

Best Indie Game
Winners: BlueSkies
What: An indie multiplayer, arcade style aerial combat game.
Prize: Leap Motion and Gaming Keyboard/Mouse packs

Community & Social Impact Prize
Winners: EasyPol
What: Making Australian politics easy by presenting it in a visual and entertaining format.
Prize: $1,000 cash from Illawarra Forum and ASIT

The Most Elegant ALgorithm (MEAL)
Winners: TerraGen
What: Interactive chaotically generated terrain game
Prize: $2,000 cash, Raspberry Pi’s and Dinner with the IMC team from IMC Pacific

Most Immersive Idea
Winners: The Beaconing and VRShooter
What (The Beaconing): 3D Printed Mobile Augmented Reality for everyone, everywhere
What (VRShooter): A fully immervise world where you battle other players from around the world, stand man standing wins
Prize: Oculus Rift DK2

Peoples Choice
Winners: Profanity Pig
What: Profanity Pig is your sidekick in ending bad swearing habits.
Prize: $2,000 cash from Hackagong

A massive thanks to our Platinum sponsor, WiseTech Global, our Gold sponsors: Braintree, University of Wollongong, Rackspace, IMC and iAccelerate along with all our other sponsors. Without your generous contributions, Hackagong wouldn’t be where it is today.

Hackagong is the largest independent Hackathon in Australia. Hackagong is run entirely by students and volunteers as part of the Wollongong IT Society, a student club at the University of Wollongong.

The post Hackagong announces winners for the biggest Hackagong yet! appeared first on Hackagong.

A huge thank you to our platinum sponsor, WiseTech Global, our gold sponsors:BrainTree, University of Wollongong, Rackspace, IMC Financial Markets andiAccelerate, along with all of our other sponsors for their contributions and support this year.

Hackagong wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of these companies, so please go ahead and connect with them through Facebook and Twitter – they’ll appreciate it!

Here is the full list of prizes that will be available:

• Overall Winner Hackagong 2015 (worth over $50,000!)
  $5000 cash from WiseTech Global + Business Mentoring + Web Hosting + Coworking Desks + Flights to Melbourne
• People’s Choice
  $1,000 cash
• Best Overall Design
  Creative Butt subscription and Tuts+ Subscription for each team member
• Most Creative 3D Printed Object
  Me2 3D Printer
• Most Innovative 3D Printed Object
  Me3 3D Printer
• Best Use of Braintree/PayPal
  $2,000 cash and Developer Survival Kits
• Best IOT Device Hack
  Raspberry Pi 2, Particle Photon and Arduino Experimenter’s Kits for each team member
• Best Indie Game
  Leap Motion and Gaming Keyboard and Mouse pack for each team member
• Community & Social Impact
  $1000 cash
• Most Elegant Algorithm
  $2,000 cash, Raspberry Pi’s and Dinner with the IMC team
• Most Immersive Idea
  2 x Oculus Rift DK2
• Best Social Image Prize
  AR Drone 2

More information about prizes and judging criteria are available on our website.

Tickets are available for $50 by going to https://hackagong.com and ordering them through the website. Ticket price includes entry, food for the weekend, a free shirt, access to 3D printers, Rackspace credit, free Google Cardboard and much much more.

The post $150,000 worth of prizes and giveaways at Hackagong 2015 appeared first on Hackagong.

In this workshop, we will be demonstrating how to create and prepare a 3D model for printing. We’ll kindly ask all participants to bring along a laptop with 123D Design software downloaded and ready to go. The 123D Design software is free from Autodesk and can be downloaded from their website (link below). Our Build Ambassador Cameron will give an overview of the software and helpers will be available throughout the workshop.

Download software here: http://www.123dapp.com/design

Note: There will only be a small opportunity at the beginning of the workshop to prepare the 123D Design software, however, we highly recommend pre-downloading the software as no public wifi is available.

We look forward to seeing everyone there! If you have any questions, please ask us on our Facebook page!

The post GET PREPARED! Hackagong3D Workshop 2 is soon appeared first on Hackagong.

Throughout the Top 10 demo and Showcase event, we expect the teams to display innovative use of new technologies and provide an example of their marketing and pitching skills. The event is completely open to the public and would be a great opportunity to those looking for talent to come along and see what the participants can achieve. Additionally, you’ll get the opportunity to chat to the teams, browse the other Hackagong projects and enjoy pizza + drinks while the judges deliberate on their decisions!

Where and When

UOW Unicentre
Building 11, University of Wollongong
Sunday November 30, 2014
5:00-7:30pm

Schedule

5:00-6:00pm: Top 10 Demos
6:00-7:00pm: Browse Hackagong projects, chat to teams, enjoy some pizza + drinks while judges deliberate
7:00-7:30pm: Category Awards & Overall Winner announced

Awesome

✓ Open to the public, all welcome
✓ Pizza provided
✓ Non alcoholic drinks provided
✓ Innovative showcase of new technologies
✓ Guaranteed to see something you’ve never seen before

Please RSVP at our Eventbrite page: https://hackagong2014top10.eventbrite.com.au/

The post Top 10 Demo and Showcase – Open to Public! appeared first on Hackagong.

The Meta 1 Dev Kit is currently sold out until August 2015, but luckily Hackagong will have four kits to use on the weekend. Hackagong is proud to announce that we will be the first public hackathon in Australia that has access to the Meta technology! Pretty awesome eh?

Thanks to the guys at Meta, we also have one Meta 1 Developer Kit to giveaway to the team that makes the best application for the Meta 1. Unfortunately, there will be limited Meta 1 Development Kits available on the day and you must first pitch your idea to the Meta team. If you’re interested in using a Meta 1 Development Kit during Hackagong, please get in touch with Brennan Hatton. You’ll be requested to pitch your idea to him over a Skype call. Only a select number of teams will get the opportunity to use Meta over the weekend, so it’s important to get your pitch to Brennan quickly. You’ll also need to make sure your computer has the minimum requirements to run the Meta software:

• Unity3D 4.6.0b20: Download Here
• Windows 7 / 8
• i5, 4GB ram
• 1 USB port
• 1 HDMI port or HDMI adapter

More information can be found about Meta on their website: http://getameta.com/. Teams will also have the chance to enter the exclusive Meta Pioneers Program: https://www.spaceglasses.com/pioneers

Thanks to everyone who came to tonight’s workshop and a huge thanks to Meta for running the program plus providing the development gear for the weekend.

The post Meta 1 Information + Successful Workshop! appeared first on Hackagong.

Hackagong will be providing around 12 3D printers during the event for participants to physically print their awesome projects. They’ll also be a few helpers roaming around ensuring your 3D object gets printed correctly. Thanks to our sponsors, Hackagong has two 3D printing prize categories:

• Most Innovative 3D Print: Me2 3D Printer + Filament Pack. Thanks to our sponsors Me3D and Mad Mat 3D Printing.
• Most Creative 3D Print: Me2 3D Printer + Filament Pack. Thanks to our sponsors Me3D and Mad Mat 3D Printing.

We’re super excited to see what awesome projects come out of this years Hackagong! If you need some assistance or want to know some more information about 3D Printing at Hackagong, get in touch with the Build Ambassador, Cameron. Additionally, you can tweet @hackagong or send us a message on Facebook.

Email: ambassadors (at) hackagong.com

The post Hackagong 3D Printing Workshops appeared first on Hackagong.

Hackagong 2014 will be held on November 29-30, 2014 at the uniCentre, University of Wollongong.

Last year’s weekend hackathon event attracted over 100 people competing across various categories for over $32,000 in prizes. We even had Australia’s first 3D printing competition.

Our team of volunteers (over 20!) have been hard at work planning for a very awesome, and very epic Hackagong 2014. We’re expecting 120-150 competitors with various prize category competitions including 3D printing, Big Data, data visualisation, indie game development, cryptocurrencies and some cool hardware such as the Oculus Rift and Meta glasses.

We are currently seeking sponsors to help us cover costs and provide prizes! Please contact sponsor@hackagong.com for more information.

Keep an eye on this blog and the social channels for further news and updates: Facebook and Twitter.

Start forming teams and thinking of what you can build at Hackagong 2014…

The post Hackagong 2014: November 29-30 @ UOW appeared first on Hackagong.

Following on from the awesomeness of Hackagong 2013, we bring you HackagongX. A new initiative, run entirely by the Hackagong Student Club including members from the local community.

The idea is quite similar to your usual Hackagong, but with a twist! HackagongX will be focused on a particular theme per event.

The inaugural event will be called HackagongX [Code], with a theme of building useful apps and tools for UOW Students (website, mobile website or native app). There will be some available UOW data on the weekend to utilise.

As usual; big prizes, big ideas and a level of true geekiness to match.

Your ticket price is inclusive of all food, entry and access to a 1Gbps net connection. All you need to bring is your laptop and your next big idea!

Get in quick, tickets are limited! Buy them here: https://hackxcode13.eventbrite.com.au/

Prizes:
$10,000 in prizes thanks to the awesome folks at Amazon AWS!

Where:
Building 24, University of Wollongong

Schedule:
Saturday, 28 Sep 2013: 10am – 9pm (no overnight, go home and sleep)
Sunday, 29 Sep 2013: 10am – 6pm

Questions? Contact mark@hackagong.com or tim@hackagong.com

The post HackagongX Code / Build Apps for UOW Students appeared first on Hackagong.

Well that was a truly epic week in Wollongong!

We awarded over $32,000 in prizes at last weekend’s Hackagong held July 20-21, 2013 at the UOW uniCentre, and Demo Day held Wednesday July 24, 2013 at the WIN Entertainment Centre. Hackagong attracted over 100 competitors across 34 teams, competing across 9 different category competitions from game development to 3D printing, and over 150 people were in attendance during the weekend. Some teams traveled from as far away as Canberra and Melbourne to compete!

After 30 hours of design, code, build & launch (and little sleep) all competitors produced truly spectacular prototypes, and an amazing group of judges decided all of the category prize winners including the Top 10 teams.

The Top 10 teams then pitched for the Major Prize on the main stage at Demo Day, as part of the #IllawarraDigital2013 expo, to an audience of over 100 including a panel of notable judges. Over 40 local startups and Hackagong teams showcased their products at Demo Day to hundreds of members of the public including Australia’s top business leaders and entrepreneurs.

The winner of the Major Prize and overall winner of Hackagong 2013 is Peereo!

Peereo (Matt Stimson, John Redwood, Yetrina Battad) is an education and networking platform. The platform is designed to improve primary and secondary school teacher effectiveness, as well as offer them new sources of career and professional development. As a by-product the service produces free, world-class content for all students.

The Peereo team has won an awesome prize pack to help them turn their prototype into a global startup. The prize includes: $5000 cash (thanks to Pactera & Tibra) + desks at StartPad (thanks to iAccelerate) + $2000 of legal advice (thanks to Access Law Group) + mentoring + pitch training + business consulting (thanks to Spoon Consultancy)!

Thankyou again to all of our supporters and sponsors!

The following are just a few of our favourite photos from Hackagong 2013 that give an awesome overview of what the event entails, and the kind of technology competitors play with to build innovative prototypes and products. For a full gallery of photos from Hackagong and Demo Day checkout our Facebook page, and feel free to re-use any of them with attribution.

The post Hackagong 2013 Winners Announced appeared first on Hackagong.

The Major Prize prize pack for the overall winners of Hackagong 2013 is worth over $15,000 and includes $5000 cash thanks to Pactera & Tibra + StartPad desks thanks to iAccelerate + professional pitch training + mentoring + 12 months of business consulting thanks to Spoon Consultancy + $2000 worth of legal advice thanks to Access Law Group.

In no particular order, the Top 10 teams are: Repair My Road, Whispr, CoLab, Peereo, Lime Rocket, Dispatchr, Team Internetrix, Arts Eclectic, Side Projectors, Team Adaptive

Repair My Road

A pot hole reporting app that empowers citizens through eGovernance.

Whispr

Whispr gives anyone a temporary, private place to chat with their friends, colleagues or clients.

CoLab

A mobile website connecting people looking for projects and startups looking for skills.

Peereo

An education and networking platform.

Lime Rocket

Interactive gameshows for pubs and clubs.

Dispatchr

A GPS tracking platform for companies with dispatched based services.

Krystalyze (Team Internetrix)

See the the bigger picture, understand human behaviour across multiple platforms, Krystalise your perspective on human behaviour.

Arts Eclectic

3D printed all in one fold-up table top post-apocalyptic truck game.

Side Projectors

Marketplace to buy and sell your projects.

Team Adaptive

Digitising the physical world through advertising.

The post Top 10 Hackagong teams pitching tomorrow for the Major Prize! appeared first on Hackagong.