Over 400 students convened in Morgridge Hall for a 24-hour innovation marathon.
For 24 intense hours on November 22–23, Morgridge Hall turned into a hub of caffeinated creativity as MadHacks 2025 drew over 400 participants from across the country — the largest turnout in the event’s history. For the first time, the student-run hackathon took place in the School of Computer, Data & Information Science’s new home, Morgridge Hall.
Teamwork, resiliency, and “learning on the fly”
MadHacks challenges students to form teams of up to four and turn ideas into working projects in just 24 hours. Participants of all skill levels arrive without pre-built solutions — everything is created from scratch during the event. When the clock runs out, teams pitch their innovations to judges who award prizes across multiple tracks, from beginner-friendly categories to specialized challenges sponsored by industry partners.
For participants like Jenna Hlavac, a UW–Madison Computer Sciences (CS) major, the fast pace and collaborative energy are what define the experience. “MadHacks is more than just a coding marathon, it’s a challenge in teamwork, resilience, creativity, and learning on the fly,” she shared. “I’m walking away energized, inspired, and incredibly proud of the work we produced in such a short time.”
A MadHacks team throws up a "W" ahead of judging.
Pushing boundaries across diverse domains
From AI-powered, fact-checking tools to financial apps helping families manage stablecoin conversions, teams worked on diverse projects. Winners included Bob’s Businesses (Best Beginner Hack), What’s the Move (Best Community Hack, helping students evaluate relocation costs for internships), FocusMate (Best Productive Hack), GPT Rewind (Best AI Project), and StablePay (Capital One Prize). 3Docs, a platform that transforms static PDF manuals into interactive 3D manuals, took overall first place.
Unique opportunities for learning
MadHacks also offered free workshops, including Intro to Hackathons by the organizers of MadHacks, Web Dev by WebLabs, Software Dev by Girls Who Code, and Networks by TDS. MadHacks Organizer Andrew Moses, a CS major, led an Estimathon (a team-based competition combining trivia, logic, and approximation) with Jane Street Capital, an American-based private quantitative trading firm. Meanwhile, mentors and volunteers provided crucial support throughout the event.
With record participation, MadHacks 2025 marked a milestone for the student-run event. For many participants, it also marked the beginning of ideas, and connections, that will continue well beyond the 24-hour sprint.
Thank you to our sponsors — including American Family Insurance, Fish Audio, TDS, Capital One, Epic, MG&E, Google, and Mastra—along with partners Red Bull, Bubbl’r, poppi, gener8tor, and interviewing.io. Learn more at madhacks.io. Browse all 114 projects on Devpost.