VTHacks 14 // Hacker guide

Everything you
need to hack.

Find venues, meals, prizes, deadlines, and help for Sept. 18–20 at Virginia Tech.

Join Discord

Plan your overnight stay

We don’t provide overnight accommodations. Have a place to go after 10:00 PM.

This guide is live

A few room assignments and company details are still being confirmed. Watch Discord for changes.

What to pack

Bring what you need to build comfortably and move between event spaces throughout the weekend.

Laptop

Required

Student or photo ID

Required

Device chargers

Portable charger

Headphones or earbuds

Reusable water bottle

Sweater or extra layer

Notebook and pens

Toiletries and personal essentials

Backpack

Keep your ID with you during the event. Bring any medication or other personal items you may need during the day.

Know where to go

Planned venues. Exact entrances, room assignments, and arrival instructions will be added once confirmed.

Check-in & ceremonies

Burruss Hall

Planned for Friday arrival and opening, and Sunday closing.

Map it

Build, connect & late check-in

Goodwin Hall

Main venue for hacking, workshops, and Friday/Saturday activities. Late check-in will also be available here.

Map it

Present your project

New Classroom Building

Sunday judging will take place here.

Map it

Late check-in will be at Goodwin Hall. Check-in hours, parking, drop-off instructions, and accessible routes will be posted here.

Weekend overview

Use the live Schedule tab for current event times, rooms, trophy opportunities, and check-ins.

Friday · Sept. 18

Check in, find your team, attend opening, and start building at 8:00 PM.

Saturday · Sept. 19

Build, join workshops, meet sponsors, and collect trophies.

Sunday · Sept. 20

Submit by 8:00 AM, present to judges, and attend closing.

View live schedule

Food & vendors

Meals will be served at Goodwin Hall. Bring your badge and scan in whenever you attend an event or receive food.

Scan in every time

Events and meals

Hackers must scan in at every event they attend and whenever they receive food.

Your event team

Strikers · Midfielders · Defenders

You’ll be assigned an event team at check-in. Event check-ins earn points for your team throughout the weekend. The team with the most points gets first access to the next meal. Your event team is separate from the team building your project.

Friday dinner

Benny’s

8:00–9:00 PM

Saturday lunch

Cafe Mekong

12:00–1:30 PM

Saturday dinner

Roma’s Pizza

5:30–7:30 PM

Sunday lunch

Domino’s

12:00–1:00 PM

Have a dietary question? Ask in Discord. Confirm ingredients and available options with the event team before taking a meal.

Meet the companies

These companies appear in the current organizer plan. The final roster, sessions, and booth locations are awaiting confirmation.

Capital One Deloitte Databricks Impiricus Procedura AI Cloudforce Peraton GoDaddy Galois CoStar Group

Raffles & rewards

There are three different ways to earn rewards during VTHacks 14.

Five-trophy challenge

Guaranteed $30 digital gift card

Collect one of each trophy, submit a project, and have it judged on Sunday. Check in at a designated trophy event to receive that event’s trophy.

Standard raffle

Winners revealed at closing

Earn raffle tickets by checking in to eligible events. Winners will be announced during the closing ceremony.

13-inch MacBook Air
AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation

Golden Ticket

Beats Studio Pro

Two randomly selected workshops will each have an exclusive Beats Studio Pro raffle. Only hackers who check in to that specific workshop will be eligible to win.

Complete the trophy set

World Cup

Champions League

Ballon d’Or

Golden Boot

Golden Glove

The live Schedule tab labels trophy events and events that award standard raffle tickets. You only need one of each trophy type; duplicates do not replace a missing trophy.

Tracks & prizes

Submit and present your project to compete for overall placement and special-category prizes.

Overall winners

1st Place

14-inch MacBook Pro

2nd Place

PlayStation 5 Digital Edition

3rd Place

Keyboard, mouse, and monitor setup

Special-category tracks

Best First-Time Hack

AirPods 4

Best Hack That Didn’t Work

Amazon Echo Spot

Best DEI Hack

LED Smart Fire TV

Best UI/UX Hack

Kodak instant-print camera

Best Ut Prosim Hack

The North Face Borealis backpack

Company-specific tracks are coming

Additional company tracks, requirements, and prizes will be announced during the opening ceremony. This guide will be updated after those announcements.

Judging

Final judging information is coming soon.

We’re finalizing the judging format, presentation timing, room assignments, and evaluation criteria. Check this guide and Discord for the complete details before Sunday.

Find a place to focus

Plan your workspace and your breaks before the weekend starts.

Main hacking space

Goodwin Hall is the main workspace for hacking, workshops, and event activities.

Explore campus

You may explore Virginia Tech’s campus for available rooms and other places to work. Please respect posted access rules and leave campus workspaces by 10:00 PM.

From idea to demo

Start small, leave time to submit, and practice showing your core feature.

Submit your project to Devpost by 8:00 AM on Sunday. Projects must be submitted by the deadline to qualify for prizes and judging.

Open VTHacks 14 on Devpost

Teams and participation

Teams may have up to four people.
Your team must be registered on Devpost and through the Hacker App.
VTHacks is fully in person; online participation is not available.
You can find teammates during check-in and at the beginning of the event.

Get ready to submit

Choose one core feature and agree on responsibilities with your teammates.
Prepare a short project description and check that judges can access your demo links.
Leave time to test your submission and practice your demo.

Need a hand?

You don’t have to figure everything out alone.

General questions

Use the ask-questions channel in the VTHacks Discord before or during the event.

Open Discord

Onsite & private support

Help desk locations, mentor requests, accessibility contacts, and private reporting details will be posted here. Keep sensitive personal information out of public channels.

VTHacks 14 · Guide in progress · Updated September 16, 2026