Introduction
Dive into an exciting day of innovation and creativity. Thursday August 14th is your opportunity to leverage Amazon Web Services (AWS) to ideate, collaborate, build, and present solutions that can make a real-world impact.
Event Description
General Information
- Date & Time: 9:00AM – 5:30PM, Thursday August 14th, 2025
- Venue: To be shared in the registration confirmation email
- Capacity: 30 participants
- Theme: Innovating career development through generative AI and cloud technology
- Form of Delivery: In-Person
Who are we?
The University of British Columbia’s Cloud Innovation Centre (UBC CIC) is a collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), and after opening in January 2020 it is still the only CIC in Canada.
Now, the UBC CIC is focusing on generative AI to ensure organizations can adopt this groundbreaking technology to drive innovation and improve the services they offer. The UBC CIC program is embracing this technology to ensure that students are learning these critical skills to power the future.
Who are you?
You are a current UBC student passionate about generative AI and cloud computing, ready to apply your talents in a collaborative environment. Whether you are a designer or a programmer, our event is a space to learn and grow, and is open to all skill levels and backgrounds– first-time hackers are especially welcome!
What’s the theme?
Our challenge invites you to use GenAI and cloud computing to develop innovative tools that support career navigation. It’s a chance for you to research existing approaches, highlight gaps you’ve observed, and propose ideas that could truly advance the ways people explore and prepare for their careers. We encourage you to think creatively about how modern tech can address evolving needs in professional development.
What is Generative AI and Cloud Computing?
Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence that creates new content, such as text, images, code or audio, by learning patterns from existing data, making it more adaptive than traditional programming. On AWS, services like Amazon Bedrock provide access to a variety of foundation models from leading AI providers such as Anthropic, Meta, and Stability AI. This allows you to build GenAI applications tailored to your data and specific use cases.
Cloud computing is the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. It allows you to focus on developing, rather than having to worry about providing all the hardware. One of the biggest cloud service providers out there is AWS.
Event Details and Schedule
Before the Hackathon
Team Formation
- Teams that are already formed will be prioritized during registration, while we’ll do our best to accommodate those still looking for teammates.
- All team members must register individually. The RSVP form includes a section to list the names of your team members.
- Teams should have 3 to 5 members.
Registration
- Capacity: Space is limited to 30 participants
- Deadline: Registration closes on July 31st, 11:59 PDT.
- Waitlist: After capacity has been reached, participants will be placed on the waitlist.
- Cancellation: We understand that plans change. Please email us at cic.info@ubc.ca using your student email if you can no longer come, so we can assign your spot to someone on the waitlist.
Results Confirmation
We will notify you by email if you secure a seat at the hackathon by the end of the day August 2nd. This email will include details on your next steps, such as access to a GitHub repository and a Discord link, where you can connect with others and find teammates before the event.
Datasets
Participants are required to bring their own datasets, which should come from public sources such as official portals, open statistics repositories, or open data sets such as those from Kaggle. Please ensure your data is openly available, free of private or personally identifiable information (PII), and does not violate any copyright restrictions. Preprocessing your data before the hackathon is encouraged.
Study Resources
Once your registration has been confirmed we will share resources for your convenience to be better prepared for the actual day of hacking.
Thursday, August 14th – Hackathon
What do you need to bring?
- Water bottle
- Laptop and power cables
- An inquisitive attitude!
Food
Refreshments and lunch will be provided. We invite you to bring your own reusable containers, mugs, and utensils to help us minimize waste.
Prizes
The top team will be awarded a prize. To be considered, projects must be posted and made public on GitHub.
Rules
More detailed rules will be released closer to the actual event, but in general:
- No plagiarism
- Code must be on GitHub and open sourced
- Any private datasets used must not contain personally identifiable information
- Project design and development must start at the hackathon’s beginning, but preprocessed and structured data are encouraged
AWS Credits
During this hackathon, you will receive access to AWS accounts through AWS Workshop Studio. These accounts are set up to give you access to necessary AWS services and tools to work on your projects and tailored to meet the requirements of our hackathon. There is no cost to participate.
By using AWS Workshop Studio for the relevant event, Participants agree to the AWS Event Terms and Conditions, the AWS Responsible AI Policy, and the AWS Acceptable Use Policy.
General Schedule
- 9:00AM: Check in and refreshments
- 9:15AM: Introductions and icebreakers
- 9:30AM: Hacking commences
- 12:00PM: Lunch (provided)
- 4:10PM: Presentations start
- 5:30PM: End of Hackathon!
Mentors and Support
CIC staff and current Co-op students will be available to guide you.
Point of Contact
Some details are still being planned, and more information will come once your registration has been confirmed.
Have a question? Ask the team at cic.info@ubc.ca. Please ensure all communication is done through your student email.