AEC Hackathon

What is the AEC Hackathon?

A first for the Architecture, Engineering, Construction Industry, the AEC Hackathon is a non-profit event that creates on-the-spot teams of technologists and industry stakeholders to shape the future of our built environment. The hackathon provides a playful, exploratory environment where disruption and creative ideas are the essential tools for innovation. The AEC community faces fresh new problems that urgently need brilliant minds to solve them. How are you changing the world?

Who should attend?

AEC Professionals

This also includes Facilities Managers, GIS Specialists, Public Utilities, and everyone that deals with the built environment. Come with the problems you want to solve.

Tech Developers

We need tech ninjas, game programmers, and rebels that code. Come to hack with new hardware and tech all in the name of doing something crazy and fantastic--and helpful.

UI/UX Designers

We need people like you to make everything look beautiful, work intuitively, and create a stellar user experience. Great applications require great design.

How Is This Going Down?

Friday, March 14::

7:00pm Registration/Mixer
8:00pm Welcome/Introductions
8:15pm Cover hack categories
8:30pm Lightning rounds
8:45pm Team Formations
9:45pm Team Introductions/Goals for the Weekend
10:00pm Adjourn

Saturday, March 15::

8:00am Team Check In/Breakfast
9:00am Morning Welcome/Hackathon Brief
9:15am Lightning rounds
9:30am Hackathon Kickoff - Team Brainstorming/Sketch/Design/Code
10:00am AEC and Tech Workshops throughout the day until 5:00pm
1:00pm Working Lunch
7:00pm Working Dinner
11:00pm Adjourn

Sunday, March 16::

8:00am Team Check In / Breakfast
12:00pm Lunch
1:00pm Hackathon Coding Concludes/Hackathon Presentations Begin
3:00pm Fireside Chat: 'Being a Startup'
3:30pm Judging Concludes/Final Awards and Recognitions (The final awards may be held earlier or later depending on duration of hack presentations)
4:00pm Closing Remarks
4:15pm After-hack-wind-down party
5:30pm Adjourn

AEC Workshops

Learn the latest in technology tools and processes that relate to you from the leaders in the industry.

Lineup will be announced closer to the event

Tech Workshops

Learn the latest standards, languages, and API’s for web, 3D, GIS, and complementary technologies.

Lineup will be announced closer to the event

Location

Friday Reception & Saturday-Sunday Hackathon:
Facebook HQ - Menlo Park, California

Details shared to registered attendees

Register

Register here on Eventbrite for AEC Hackathon 1.1

Additional proceeds go to these amazing organizations

Contact Us

Have a comment, suggestion, or concern? Interested in sponsorhip opportunities for this industry first? Looking forward to meeting you when you show up, but drop us a line if you need us:

Outreach

Want to help us spread the word as a media partner? Email us and we'll make sure to get in touch with you.

Organizers

IDEAbuilder, The Digit Group and a growing AEC Hackathon community are the producers of the event. Supported by AEC Industry leaders and IT talent, the AEC Hackathon is an exciting and worthwhile event.

Lots of cool people are involved in making these events happen. We can't list them all, but they are allstars and we thank them for their help and support.

News

Read more about the event from these news sources:

Media

Visit our Youtube channel for more event videos

AEC Hacks

These projects were built by our amazing hackers:

aeChack - is a free, online and open source platform for running and visualizing environmental analysis using daylighting and energy analysis engines.

Resources

Open source projects & datasets:

FAQ

1. What is a hackathon?

Hackathons have long been staple events in the Technology Industry since the late 1990s. A Hackathon is an intense event that brings together computer programmers like software developers, graphic designers and user interface specialists along with industry process experts and professionals to identify issues and create software solutions, usually within a weekend.

2. What do I bring?

This is a very hands-on and grassroots event. Bring your laptops, mobile phones, Kinects, Oculus Rifts, Leap Motions, wearable computing devices, to whatever inspires you but above all, your energy and your brain! Don't worry if you forget something, there will be tons of stuff to do.

3. What is the goal of the hackathon?

We want to create an environment that embraces new ideas and technology solutions for the AEC Industry. A place where technology designers and developers can come to help the industry, and a safe zone for AEC R&D teams to geek out without having to worry about failure or affecting a company's bottom line. We know it takes longer than a weekend to build great solutions, but this is ample time to form teams of good people and begin creating great solutions.

4. How do I form or join a team and why?

We hope teams at the hackathon will form around problems expressed by participating AEC professionals or the provided hack categories. We do encourage participants to start forming teams before the event. If you would like to start a team or are looking for a team to join, be sure to attend the Friday evening mixer or make an announcement at the opening ceremony of the event on Saturday. You can also propose or join a team via our Meetup Community, Facebook page, and LinkedIn group.