DurHack is Durham University Computing Society’s flagship hackathon, where university students from across the UK come together to create innovative technology projects in just 24 hours.
Founded in 2015 to inspire its participants to push the boundaries of tech, the event has experienced remarkable growth. Since 2023, it has been the largest Major League Hacking (MLH) event in the UK, reaching a record 600 participants this year, making it the 2nd largest student-run Hackathon in Europe!
In this article, come behind the scenes of DurHack 2024, learn about the event’s organisation and ethos, and celebrate the amazing projects built by our participants.
Image: Participants during the DurHack opening ceremony
What goes into organising DurHack?
DurHack is organised entirely by university students, and is worked on throughout the year.
With roles spanning from design and sponsorship, to tech and logistics, the Organising Team has grown to almost 30 members dedicated to delivering the best experience for DurHack’s participants.
Our tech team has created an incredible custom tech platform for applications, judging, and Guilds, a mini-challenge platform which encourages togetherness amongst participants.
Logistically, the event feeds over 600 people for 5 meals across the weekend, including midnight pizza, making one of the largest Domino's orders in the UK! Our logistics team handles not only this monumental catering, but also our venue, the Teaching and Learning Centre, and our stash that we provide to our participants.
Our professional design and marketing team make DurHack’s impressive branding cohesive across social media and through banners and decorations that immerse our participants in our themes year on year.
Image: DurHack Organising and Volunteer Team
DurHack 2024 Highlights
DurHack is all about learning something new. This year, we were thrilled to launch HackPacks, digital starter packs to help hackers get stuck into new programming languages and areas of tech. Equally, we were excited to run a hardware lab, to empower participants to explore new technologies they might not otherwise have access to.
Over the weekend, participants created over 130 incredible projects, highlights including the project which won Hackiest Hack in which participants programmed a full size traffic light! There was also a fully simulated F1 race on a physical track created by students from Nottingham, and the winning project, a personality quiz that used facial recognition called ‘Affirmasaurus.’
Image: F1 Simulation Project
At DurHack, we are committed to building a more inclusive future in the tech space, and one of the aspects we cherish most is how the event unites individuals from various backgrounds.
Support from RS
As recipients of the Student Fund, we were thrilled to receive recognition from RS for the incredible impact of our event. This financial support helped us to improve the quality of our event for our participants. RS also kindly donated a NVIDIA Jetson 2GB Starter Kit Starter Kit (215-3185) for our Best Science Communication Prize.
Image: Winners of the Best Science Communication Prize
Over the weekend, we had the pleasure of being joined by Elvis Tinago, Amy Muncer, and Sophie Jeffrey from RS. Elvis also joined us as a judge on the finalist judging panel.
Looking to the future
Image: Team of hackers (participants)
As we approach our milestone 10th anniversary in 2025, we look forward to celebrating this special occasion with our next hackathon, DurHack X!
Don’t miss the chance to be part of this historic event, where innovation, collaboration, and community spirit will shine brighter than ever!
(Co-authored by Oscar Ryley and Clarissa Hui)
Comments