MakeCU

about this event

MakeCU: build something physical in one focused weekend. Columbia University Robotics Club's 24-hour hardware hackathon brings students together to design, prototype, and demo real hardware projects.

November 7–8, 2026 | Columbia University at Carleton Commons. In-person hardware hackathon | Teams of 1–4 students.

Explore three tracks: Healthcare, Environmental, and Creativity. Create robots, machines and projects that inspire, educate, entertain, or enable new forms of expression.

Before arriving, complete the required makerspace training and equipment checklist: https://www.makecu.dev/checklist/. Weekend schedule: https://www.makecu.dev/schedule/. Meet the organizers: https://www.makecu.dev/team/.

Applications are closed; no late applications are accepted. Questions: [email protected]. Discord: https://discord.gg/EPuGY7PFNn.

Sponsors — Gold: Midcentury Labs, TouchTronix Robotics Inc., BotBlox, Trace. Silver: Notability, Clarapath, PI (Physik Instrumente), Verne. Bronze: Tutor Intelligence, UFACTORY, NordVPN, Manhattan Valley Indian Cuisine.

Judges — Ali Al-Bustami, Robotics Research Lead at Midcentury Labs; Brandon Samaroo, Head of Research at Midcentury Labs; Josh Elijah, CEO at BotBlox; Aniket Dhole, Robotics Engineer at Clarapath; Rohit Ratnakar Thakar, Junior Research & Development Engineer at TouchTronix; David Watkins, Research Lead at Tutor Intelligence; Olu Afolabi, CEO at Trace; Ruhri Lee, Brand Marketing & Partnership Associate at Notability.

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