Can you hack it?

In this spirit of Thanksgiving, let’s gather around the table for Hacksgiving: A.I. for Good. The Hacksgiving hackathon offers students an opportunity to use their skillsets to give back to the community by developing an A.I.-driven solution to support a local nonprofit.

Discovery World Science and Technology Museum Milwaukee

This year's nonprofit partner is Milwaukee Domes Alliance, a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) established in 1989. The organization directly channels resources that make possible many of the educational and cultural programs held at the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory.

 

How Hacksgiving works

Students are presented with a problem statement and dataset from a nonprofit organization. Then, students work individually or with a team to crunch the data and develop a solution over the course of a three-day hackathon. They present their solutions to the judges for a chance to take home the prize money. Hacksgiving is open to all MSOE students from any major. 

Hacksgiving provides an opportunity for students use their creativity and apply their application-oriented talents and skills to help your organization overcome challenges. These real-world projects empower our students to make a real difference in the community.

Hacksgiving was developed by Dr. Jeremy Kedziora, PieperPower endowed chair in A.I. at MSOE.

 

Hacksgiving 2025 Schedule

Interested in participating? Attend the kick-off meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.

Hacksgiving 2025 will take place November 20-23, 2025.

  • Nov. 20 | Kick-off Meeting | 6:30–7:30 p.m. | Diercks Hall Atrium
  • Nov. 21 | Hacksgiving Day 1 | 3–7 p.m. | Diercks Hall Atrium
  • Nov. 22 | Hacksgiving Day 2 | 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Diercks Hall Atrium
  • Nov. 23 | Hacksgiving Final Day | 11 a.m.–3 p.m. | Diercks Hall Atrium/Auditorium for Final Presentations

Awards

  • 1st place: $3,000
  • 2nd place: $2,000
  • 3rd place: $1,000

Judges

  • Christa Beall Diefenbach, CEO at Milwaukee Domes Alliance 
  • Erica Veto, education director at Milwaukee Domes Alliance
  • Brett Storoe, president of MSOE A.I. Club
  • Rob Bardunias, adjunct assistant professor of computer science and software engineering at MSOE

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