Schwan’s Company · After the event
A winning team got hired.
Schwan’s, our platinum sponsor in March, hired one of the winning teams after the event.
See Schwan’s postSouthwest MN Hacks
Building southwest Minnesota's student technology community through hackathons, mentorship, collaboration, and real-world problem solving.
24 hours to build something real.
Fall 2026 is a wrap. Thanks to every student who showed up. See what they built.
Sept 12–13, 2026 · Upper Conference Center, SMSU
All of us at the latest Southwest MN Hacks. Read the Fall 2026 recap
- 24
- hours
- 13
- teams
- 12
- projects shipped
- 3
- judges
The format
What happens in 24 hours.
Build
Doors open 8 AM Saturday. Teams of up to 4 build through the night, and awards follow the Sunday morning presentations.
Learn
Mentors and workshops run all day. Beginners are the point, not the exception. AI tools are welcome; just understand your own code.
Win
The top 5 teams take prizes, one team takes the Creative Award for the bonus challenge, and every submitted project gets recognition on Devpost.
- When
- September 12 to 13, 2026. A 24-hour overnight hackathon.
- Cost
- Free. Meals and snacks included.
- Who
- Students ages 14 and up, high school through university, plus recent graduates within one year.
The panel
Who judged Fall 2026.
Industry engineers and faculty reviewed every submission and picked the winners — including Babatunde, back on the panel since mentoring and judging the very first event in March.
Alex Polfliet
Senior Software Engineer, Amazon
Oluleye Babatunde
Professor of Computer Science, Southwest Minnesota State University
Mandar Chaudhari
Full-Stack and Machine Learning Engineer
Fall 2026
Fall 2026 winners.
Judged by the panel above. Every project links to its public Devpost page.
1st Place · Fall 2026
Bridgeline
Ali Muhammad Nathani, Bucky2OP Patil, sanikhan17 sani, Lexi Weems
Project on Devpost
2nd Place · Fall 2026
Alignt
Ranjan Khadka, Alina Ivashchenko, Ayush Singh, Asli Oktay
Project on Devpost
3rd Place · Fall 2026
Foresight
Anirudra J Rayamajhi, Aashish Gaire, Ayush Gaire, Bibek Subedi
Project on Devpost4th Place · Fall 2026
Skillbridge
Henok Asfaw, Shenal Peries, Esrom Mulugeta, Abenezer Legesse
Project on Devpost5th Place · Fall 2026
Sunny Days Childcare
Nawaf A, Brady Cronen, Ambar Pichardo
Project on DevpostCreative Award · Fall 2026
Skillbridge
Henok Asfaw, Shenal Peries, Esrom Mulugeta, Abenezer Legesse
Project on DevpostBrowse all 12 projects
Every submission is on the Fall 2026 Devpost gallery.
In the press
The local paper covered both.
“Two SMSU alum host first-ever Hackathon.” The Marshall Independent reported on the March event. Afterwards Schwan's invited the grand-prize team to keep building their project as a paid engagement. The paper came back for the September event too.
Marshall Independent · March 2026
Marshall Independent · September 2026
The record
Don't take our word for it.
The first event left a paper trail. Here is the rest of it.
Devpost · Public gallery
All 10 projects are public.
Ten teams competed and every one of them shipped. Browse the code and demos from March.
Browse the galleryIn the room
Professors, judges, and sponsors showed up.
Named and photographed. They're why students leave with more than a project.
Mar 21, 2026 · SMSU
Oluleye Babatunde
Professor of Computer Science, Southwest Minnesota State University
Mentored students throughout the event and served as a judge.
Mar 21, 2026 · SMSU
Dr. Dan Kaiser
Professor of Computer Science and Department Chair, SMSU
Served as a judge and advised the organizers in the months before the event.
Mar 21, 2026 · SMSU
Dave Deines
Schwan's Company, Platinum Sponsor
Sponsored the event, brought food for participants, and stepped in as a judge.
More about them in the March 2026 recap.
Results
What students built in March.
Real teams, real names, real code. Every project links to its public Devpost page.
Grand Prize · March 2026
The Balancers · IT Budget Strategist
Pradunna Pudasaini, Sarthak Adhikari, Luis Miguel Heyaime Bayonet
Project on Devpost
2nd Place · March 2026
Horizon
Sebastian Batista Ferrera, Noel Hernandez, Aidan Pereyra, Diego Vicente Bello Polanco
Project on Devpost
3rd Place · March 2026
KnowledgeFlow
Biruk Ayalew, Ebunoluwa Shokefun, Kaleab Debela
Project on Devpost
4th Place · March 2026
REDT · IT Budgeting and Forecasting Software
Abenezer Legesse, Esrom Tadesse
Project on Devpost
5th Place · March 2026
Triple B · SplendIT
Hemi Woertink, Noah Blodgett, Seeton Erickson
Project on DevpostAll 10 projects are on the Devpost gallery, and the full story is in the recap.
Questions
Asked and answered.
Backed by
The partners who make it possible.
These organizations put their names on the first event. See how March went.
Run by the Southwest MN Hacks nonprofit in partnership with Aulden. SMSU provides the venue.
Interested in supporting a future Southwest MN Hacks event?
Help us support the next generation of student builders in Southwest Minnesota.
Sponsor a Future Event