The Importance of Mentors

Mentors are crucial to the success of our hackathon, providing invaluable guidance and expertise that elevate the quality of the participants’ work. Their experience in the industry or academia not only helps teams navigate challenges and refine their ideas but also fosters an environment of learning and growth. By offering targeted advice, constructive feedback, and support, mentors play a pivotal role in helping teams reach their full potential, ensuring that innovative solutions are developed and that participants leave the event with enhanced skills and knowledge. Their involvement is key to creating a meaningful and impactful hackathon experience. Mentors will provide in general guidance in the following areas based on their expertise:

Founder/Entrepreneur
AI/ML/GenAI usage
Software Architecture
Engineering (backend, full-stack, mobile app)
UI/UX Design
Business/Marketing/Legal
Sustainability solutions

Mentoring Execution

Mentoring guidance during the physical event will be done in the following formats.

Initial mentoring – initial teams pitching
Mentor slots (1:1)
Ad-hoc mentoring

Initial mentoring

On the first day of the hackathon, Thursday, November 21, all teams will provide an initial pitch to the mentors assigned to that timeslot. Each team will have a total of 5 minutes for their initial pitch, divided into 2-3 minutes for pitching and 2 minutes for Q&A. Mentors will have access to the teams’ ideas beforehand, based on the information provided during team registration.

Mentor slots

Each mentor will have an agenda with 15-minute slots that teams can book for consultations. Participants can use the provided booking tool to select and reserve a slot to speak with a mentor of their preference. Meetings with mentors will take place in designated areas based on availability. Bookings must be made by the teams at least 30 minutes prior to the appointment. For example, a timeslot at 11:00 AM must be booked no later than 10:30 AM to allow mentors to have a clear view of their upcoming appointments.

Ad Hoc

Another form of mentoring will be ad-hoc guidance provided to the teams by mentors. This can be initiated both ways:

Triggered by teams
Teams may seek help from a mentor in the designated mentor area if a mentor is available. Teams can ask if a mentor is free and, if the mentor agrees, they can sit together for a short discussion.
Alternatively, teams can request help from mentors through the Discord chat using the public “mentors’ request” channel. In this case, it is understood that assistance is provided on a best-effort basis, depending on the availability of a mentor at that time. This method should primarily be used to get advice on which mentor is most appropriate for the team’s needs, after which they can find the mentor and book a slot with them.

Triggered by mentors
Mentors will walk around the teams, offering assistance, asking about their implementation processes, and providing guidance.