Project-ZH Hack Day is a free, one-day, in-person mini-hackathon in Baku. Build an AI-powered app with your team on Saturday, November 28, and demo it live to the judges the same evening!
Organized by the student tech community of Sumgait State University, in partnership with Major League Hacking (MLH), Innoland Incubation & Acceleration Center (STEAMLAND Inc.), and local startup mentors.
TRACKS
- Track 01: Open Track: Build any creative, working application powered by AI models, APIs, and modern frameworks
- Track 02: STEAMLAND Challenge: A focused problem statement set by our partner STEAMLAND, announced at the opening ceremony
WHO CAN JOIN
Open to university students, recent graduates, and early-career developers.
Join with a team of 2-4. No team yet? Find teammates during our team formation session on the morning of November 28. Beginners are welcome; no prior hackathon experience needed.
SCHEDULE (Baku time, GMT+4)
Saturday, November 28, 2026
10:00 Registration & check-in
10:30 Opening ceremony, track announcements & team formation
11:00 Hacking begins
13:30 Lunch break
14:30 Mentorship round 1 (Technical & architecture review)
17:30 Mentorship round 2 (Pitch coaching & demo prep)
19:00 Light dinner & refreshments
19:30 Code freeze & Devpost submissions close
20:00 Live project demos & team pitches
21:30 Judges deliberation
21:45 Closing ceremony & awards
22:00 Event ends
VENUE
Innoland Incubation & Acceleration Center
79 Z. Nudiraliyev str, Baku AZ1078, Azerbaijan
Details on meals will be shared with registered participants. Participation is completely free.
Requirements
To be eligible for judging, each team must submit on Devpost before 19:30 on November 28:
1. Project name and a short description of what it does and the problem it solves
2. The track you are submitting to (Track 01: Open Track or Track 02: STEAMLAND Challenge)
3. A link to your public code repository (GitHub, GitLab, etc.)
4. A demo video (max 3 minutes). You will also present your project live to the judges at 20:00 on November 28.
5. List of technologies, APIs, and AI models used
All code must be written during the event. You may use open-source libraries, public APIs, pre-trained models, and public datasets, but must credit them in your submission.
Prizes
1st Place
Prize details will be announced before the event.
2nd Place
Prize details will be announced before the event.
3rd Place
Prize details will be announced before the event.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
To be announced
Judges will be announced before the event
Judging Criteria
-
Use of AI/ML
Is AI/ML the right tool for this problem, and is it used meaningfully (not just a thin wrapper)? -
Technical Execution
Does it work? Quality of code, data handling and evaluation (metrics, testing on real examples). -
Creativity & Originality
How original is the idea or approach? -
Impact & Practicality
Does it solve a real problem, ideally relevant to Azerbaijan? Are limitations and risks (bias, privacy) understood? -
Presentation & Demo
How clearly was the problem, solution and result demonstrated live?
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
Invite others to compete
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