Learn Friday. Build Saturday. Pitch Sunday.

 

Redhawk Builds 2026 is an education-first fintech hackathon for approximately 100 Miami University students. Teams of 3–5 will tackle 30 problem statements using creativity, data, and technology.

 

When: November 6–8, 2026

Where: McVey Data Science Building, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (in person)

Friday workshops (during the networking expo): 4 sessions in two rounds. Everyone attends 2 of 4. Round 1: Getting Set Up / Starter Kit and Banking/Consulting Fireside. Round 2: Building a Solution from Thoughts and Financial Data + Documents.

 

Hosts: SEPi, Miami Banking Club, RedHawk Applied AI

Lead sponsor: John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship (Farmer School of Business, Miami University), which is funding the $3,500 in prizes ($2,000 / $1,000 / $500).

 

Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEPdZW1_kBf0A8Ke2lWXd7GGR5c7ZGH3eJiWm--uUlJQguMQ/viewform

Hosted by Sigma Eta Pi (SEPi), Miami Banking Club, and RedHawk Applied AI

Requirements

What to Build

 

Build an original education-first fintech project that addresses one of the 30 problem statements. Use public libraries and APIs as needed.

 

What to Submit

 

Submit a working demo, repository link, project description, team members, and a demo video of no more than 2 minutes. Disclose which data and integrations are real versus mocked. The repository must be created or made available after Saturday, November 7 at 10:00 AM ET.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

$3,500 in prizes
1st Place - $2,000
$2,000 in cash
1 winner

2nd Place - $1,000
$1,000 in cash
1 winner

3rd Place - $500
$500 in cash
1 winner

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Wyatt Borbi

Wyatt Borbi
SEPi / Miami University

Judging Criteria

  • Problem / business relevance
    Problem / business relevance — 20 points
  • Working solution
    Working solution — 25 points
  • Accuracy / trustworthiness
    Accuracy / trustworthiness — 20 points
  • Usefulness / usability
    Usefulness / usability — 15 points
  • Originality / execution
    Originality / execution — 10 points
  • Pitch / demo
    Pitch / demo — 10 points

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

Invite others to compete

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