DSH Hacks V2

Overview

DSH Hacks V2 is an online public hackathon hosted collaboratively by three youth-led organizations: DeltaForge Hacks, NXT Horizon, and STEMise. The competition is open to students aged 13 and older globally. The central theme of this event is AI x Healthcare, encouraging participants to develop innovative technical solutions that address pressing health challenges around the world. The hackathon aims to bring together young innovators to transform bold ideas into practical technical products. Participants are tasked with identifying a real-world healthcare problem and then designing and developing a meaningful solution. Projects can vary widely, including diagnostic tools, patient-care platforms, or AI-powered systems for illness detection, treatment, and management. Creativity, feasibility, technical depth, clinical insight, and the potential for real-world impact are key evaluation criteria. The competition encourages the use of AI to not only enhance the solutions but also to lower technical barriers for beginners with ambitious project ideas. The goal is to build solutions that can be implemented as apps, websites, simulations, systems, or algorithms. The competition explicitly excludes companies and professional organizations from participation, maintaining its focus on student innovation. With 201 participants in its current cycle, DSH Hacks V2 is designed to be beginner-friendly and open-ended, allowing for a wide range of creative approaches to healthcare problems.

What to build

Meaningful technical products in AI and healthcare that solve real-world problems. This can be an app, a website, a simulation, a system, or an algorithm. Participants are encouraged to use AI.

Prizes

Key dates

• Start DateNovember 08, 2026 at 2:45am EST
• DeadlineNov 7, 2026 @ 11:45pm PST

Eligibility

Ages 13+ only. Students only. All countries/territories, excluding standard exceptions.

Submission requirements

• Project: Can be a website, app, or other coding prototypes that have user interaction capabilities. Hardware components are allowed if there is a coding component present along with them.
• Demo Video: Video explaining the purpose of the project, showcasing project features, and demonstrating how users interact with the prototype.
• One Page Project Description in PDF format: A page describing the project purpose and key features.
• Github Repository / Code PDF: PDF document showcasing all code developed towards the creation of the project.

Judging criteria

• Idea: Did the proposal address the problem statement and theme? Was the idea innovative? How much potential impact could this proposal have if deployed to the public?
• Implementation: Does the solution work? Did the team achieve everything they wanted? How technically challenging/impressive was the implementation?
• Design: Did the team put thought into the user experience? How well designed is the interface?
• Presentation: Does the presentation clearly define and address the problem statement?