Hackathon Season Is Open!
WHAT'S NEXT ON THE FOOD FRONTIER?
The world population is expected to exceed 9 billion by the middle of this century. Nearly a billion people around the world currently suffer from hunger and poor nutrition. Major changes to food production, processing, and distribution systems are needed to ensure people everywhere have access to safe, sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food.
The transformation of global food systems will rely on the combined expertise, vision, experience, and commitment of researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, and consumers as well as industry practitioners working collectively to catalyze new ideas, drive innovation, and motivate change. Skills and knowledge from food scientists, nutritionists, engineers, social scientists, manufacturers, and more are needed to foster solution-oriented scientific discoveries to advance our transformative goals.
November 7-9, 2025
Stocking Hall
Ithaca, NY
36-HOURS OF FOOD INNOVATION >
WHY YOU, WHY THIS?
IF YOU'RE KEEN TO COLLAB.
You know that the success of any brand, product or solution relies on collaboration across science and business, creative and engineering.
IF YOU'RE ITCHING FOR IMPACT.
You know that there's major improvement needed in today's food system and you're the one who's going to lead the charge.
IF YOU LIKE BRAND CREATION.
You've fallen asleep dreaming of a new food product, the re-use of food byproducts, the desire to get goodness into hungry hands.
IF YOU JUST LOVE FOOD.
A hackathon that's designed for food lovers, food-systems thinkers, and those with a knack for food imagination.
2025 CHALLENGE AREAS
Over this weekend, 150 Cornell undergraduate and graduate students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds will develop a broad range of ideas and skills as they address these challenges in the hackathon’s focal areas.
HONEY
Post-Harvest
Food Waste
DAIRY
FERMENTATION
PRE-HACKATHON PREP
Two facilitated team formation sessions are organized for students to form teams prior to the weekend hackathon. This enables a fast start and no all nighters at the hackathon. Students attend the session that works best for their schedule. Team size is 4-6.
MONDAY
November 3
6:00-8:00pm
eHub Kennedy Hall
WEDNESDAY
November 5
7:30-9:30pm
Virtual on Zoom
2025 WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Hover over schedule events to learn what's recommended (★), what's mandatory, where to submit registration, team content and for mentors, access to our teams list + locations.
FRIDAY
Networking Reception
4:00PM
Hackathon Intro + Kick-Off
5:00PM
MANDATORY
Fast-Start Workshop
Bring your laptop, a pen or pencil, and get ready to rumble!
7:15PM
MANDATORY IN-PERSON
Day Concludes
9:15PM
Dinner
6:00PM
Pasta & Salads on the menu tonight!
SATURDAY
8:45AM
Breakfast Opens
10:15AM
Mentors' Training
Register your teams online with the button below. Your team name doesn't have to be your product name!
MANDATORY
Online Team Registration
9:00AM
DMI Dairy Design Thinking Workshop in Auditorium
Mentors Visit Teams
11:00AM-12:30PM
Mentors: find teams that could use your expertise. Teams: ask questions!
Mentors' Training
2:15PM
Mentors Visit Teams
3:00PM-4:30PM
Mentors: find teams that could use your expertise. Teams: ask questions!
Team Updates
10:30AM
MANDATORY IN-PERSON!
One member from each team will report on team name, one-liner and needs.
12:30PM
Lunch
Team Updates
2:30PM
MANDATORY IN-PERSON!
One member from each team will report on team name, one-liner and needs.
6:00PM
Dinner
4:30PM
Take a break and network with our guests, enjoying local cheese, fruits, and more!
Networking Reception
Join Rose + Tushar for a quick rundown on How to Pitch like a Pro and demo FAQs.
6:30PM
Pitch Workshop
SUNDAY
9:00AM
Team Submissions Due
9:30AM
1st Round Demos Kick-Off
FULL TEAM
MUST BE PRESENT :)
11:00AM
Lunch Opens
Hackathon Retrospective
11:30AM
Bring your laptop!
We're doing a live-retro commonly used in Agile to recap a sprint, using Miro.
Final Demos
FULL TEAM MUST BE PRESENT :)
12:15PM
Celebration
2:30PM
🎊
BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
IN COLLABORATION WITH:
WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROM:
Pilot Run
Accelerator
Confectionary
Conference
I-Corps & AFB Conference
Grow-NY
Membership
$10,000 Cash & Prizes
$10,000 in cash will be awarded to winning team(s) with additional prizes including...
"This one hackathon has really made me want to shift my career path to something involving entrepreneurship. My academic schedule is now full of business and entrepreneurial classes for the upcoming spring semester because of how much fun I had."
"This experience had a profound impact on me, offering valuable insights into both personal and professional growth"
