HalalHacks aims to encourage Muslim students from the Northern California region to come together, innovate, and create technology projects that benefit society, on both a local and global scale. We offer many opportunities for students to network and grow, including a mentoring program, workshops for coders of all backgrounds, tech talks from guest speakers, and other social events. 

Check us out on our website and social media accounts!

Website

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Prize Catagories:

• Best Overall
• Social Equity
• Education & Student Life
• Muslim Community Development
• Health & Wellness
• General Track (for example environmental sustainability, humanitarian relief)

Teams are only eligible to receive the prize from one category. Recipients of the Best Overall prize will be ineligible to receive track-specific awards.

Social Equity:

Over the past year, it has become apparent that deep inequalities are rooted within systems meant to serve the people. As the people speak out demanding change, social platforms and technologies often serve as platforms for coordination and the sharing of resources and information. This track encourages hackers to develop platforms that can be used as a resource to further the universal struggle for social equality.

Education and Student Life:

When schools closed at the outset of the Coronavirus, the education system was forced to adapt rapidly to the realities of remote instruction. Many institutions scrambled to address the digital divide laid bare by distance education. On the flip side, distance education has made it apparent that quality education can be much more accessible than the confines of a classroom, indeed, crossing oceans and borders. This track encourages hackers to create and explore tools to enhance education’s accessibility and aid students in their daily routines.

Muslim Community Development:

As much as the Coronavirus Pandemic was a public health crisis, so too was it a crisis of faith. Religious communities who relied on their institutions to provide them with spiritual comfort and aid faced the prospect of being barred from their places of worship. While many communities were able to shift their gatherings online, it is apparent that more must be done to connect people with their faith communities, even after Masajid and other houses of worship are open at full capacity. This track encourages hackers to empower Muslims through the innovative use of applications and other online platforms to strengthen and maintain Muslims’ connections to their faith and places of worship.

Health and Wellness:

The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the physical, spiritual, and mental well-being of billions. During this time, taking care of one’s health is more important than ever, as many navigate overwhelming and stressful challenges. For this track, we’re looking for innovative projects that empower individuals to actively monitor, track, and improve their wellbeing. 

General Track:

We’ve provided several tracks to help guide your projects! That said, we want to make it flexible for participants to build what they’re passionate about. So, we’ve created a general track for anything else. Some examples of topics within the general track would be Environmental Sustainability or Humanitarian Relief.

$1,935 in prizes

• Application & Impact (25%)
  How much would this project help someone in the real world? Does it practically address a need or problem that people have? Would people use it?
• Quality & Completeness (25%)
  How high quality is the current solution? Does it seem relatively complete/usable? How user-friendly is the project?
• Creativity & Innovation (20%)
  How unique is the project’s solution to the problem stated? Is it original, unique, and innovative?
• Difficulty & Complexity (20%)
  How difficult is the current implementation of the project? How much technical knowledge is on display?
• Presentation (10%)
  How well do the hackers present their project? Do they have a clear understanding of their purpose? How well do they respond to questions?