Student Innovation Challenges Are Back!
This August, TECHNATION returned as a proud sponsor for a new season of hands-on learning with SummerHacks, a two-day hackathon that traded fluorescent-lit classrooms for open skies, natural light, and open spaces built for creativity. Hackers were challenged to build a public tool that transforms one moment of human input: a drawing, a photo, a voice clip, a handwritten word, into something that lives online and grows into a shared artifact anyone can explore, building with intention, longevity, and purpose that could outlast the weekend itself.
Held on August 8-9 in Toronto, SummerHacks brought together 200 student hackers for 36 hours of building, collaborating, and connecting, culminating in an in-person day of hacking, judging, and celebration at Stackt Market.
A Fresh Take on Hackathons
SummerHacks drew inspiration from summer camp: that transformative experience where learning, creativity, and community converge. Alongside the code and demos, hackers left with meaningful conversations, spontaneous collaborations, and connections that outlasted the weekend.
That spirit showed up throughout the schedule too, with registration, sponsor booths, and workshops woven between hacking blocks, giving teams room to build relationships with new communities across the city, not just their own projects. It all built toward a final judging round, where projects were evaluated across four categories: Solution Design & User Experience, Technical Implementation, Innovation & Creativity, and Impact & Scalability.
Celebrating This Year’s Winners
🏆 1st place: Team Spark
Matthew Sakhno | Jack Le | Sai Jilla | Aman Shah
(Click each team member’s name above to view their portfolio.)
Spark is a privacy-focused system that turns real experiences into explorable, searchable 3D memories. Using a custom-built capture rover, a mobile app, and a local 3D reconstruction pipeline, the team combined robotics, computer vision, and AI so that instead of a folder of disconnected photos, users can revisit an interactive reconstruction of a place, move through it from different angles, search conversations, and rediscover objects, all processed locally to keep footage private.
Check out their demo here.
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🥈 2nd place: Team laser tag NOW!!!
Matthew Hamilton | Lucas Jin | Connor Tan | Aaron Tran
(Click each team member’s name above to view their LinkedIn.)
Laser Tag Now is an internet-free mobile game that turns any phone into a laser tag weapon, no vests, equipment, or connectivity required. Players aim their phone camera and shoot at other players’ phones, with health bars projected above their heads (built without computer vision or AI), power-ups scattered across the map, and a spectator mode that streams any player’s live perspective in real time.
Check out their demo here.
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🥉 3rd place: Team Playground
Krish Bhoopati | Rohan Gottipati | Harnake Reehal
(Click each team member’s name above to view their LinkedIn.)
Playground turns a photo of everyday objects into a personalized 2D arcade game. Users snap a picture of their desk, bedroom, or backpack, and the team’s computer vision model identifies the objects inside it, turning books into platforms, small items into collectibles, appliances into projectile launchers, and more, generating a fully playable game complete with a live analytics dashboard tracking real gameplay. No prompts, level editor, or game-development experience required.
Check out their demo here.
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🌟 Bonus Win: TECHNATION Data Intelligence Track
Alongside the main competition, TECHNATION sponsored a Data Intelligence Track, challenging teams to build projects that collect real usage data and turn it into a visual display users can actually explore, think interactive dashboards, engagement analytics, or trends that tell a meaningful story about how people use a product.
Taking home the win: Ryan Chang | Yuyue Jack Zhou | Daniel Yang
(Click each team member’s name above to view their Devpost profile.)
Competitive Grass Touching turns the internet’s favourite insult into a citywide game: once a day, at a random moment, every player gets the same notification and has 30 minutes to find real grass and photograph it before time runs out. An AI model scores each photo on speed and grass quality, then turns the result into a procedural glyph that’s plotted on a live public map, building a real-time, crowdsourced picture of where green space actually exists across the city, and which neighbourhoods have little to none.
Check out their demo here.
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Insights from the Community
TECHNATION’s Sandi Campbell, Executive Director, Future Workforce Development Operations, joined as a judge for this year’s event.
“What an inspiring weekend at SummerHacks, held August 8 and 9 in Toronto! With 30 teams and more than 200 participants, the event brought together an incredibly talented group of young adults who created memorable, imaginative, and meaningful ideas to help us connect with each other and with our environment. The energy throughout the event was outstanding, and the dynamic presentations showcased creative thinking, collaboration, and practical solutions. It was exciting to see such passion, talent, and innovation on display.“
Thank You to Our Partners and Sponsors
SummerHacks 2026 would not have been possible without the support of its partners and sponsors.
Get Involved
Interested in future student innovation challenges? Visit TECHNATION’s Career Ready page for upcoming events, innovation opportunities, and ways to get involved.
If you are looking to build a student challenge around your business needs, contact Tim Sidock at tsidock@technationcanada.ca.
