SCAI Hackathon
Join us for the second annual Society-Centered AI Hackathon at Duke University, where teams will work on a topic of importance in society-centered AI. Open to members of the Duke community and the broader public. The hackathon is part of the Conference on Society-Centered AI (the following weekend), which explores how to design and govern AI systems that prioritize human and societal well-being. Learn more about the conference and register for it too.
Event Overview
Location
Wilkinson Engineering Building – Rm 021 – 📍 Duke Map
Challenge
At the Society-Centered AI Hackathon, each team (2–5 participants) will develop a creative, actionable presentation in response to a prompt revealed at the hackathon kickoff event. No advance preparation is needed. Just bring your curiosity, your ideas, and your willingness to collaborate.
You do not need coding experience to participate. The hackathon is designed for students from all disciplines who want to explore how AI can serve society. At the start of the event, we’ll host a networking session to help participants meet one another and form teams. You’re also welcome to form a team ahead of time (maximum 5 people).
Judging Criteria
Judging will be done by academic and industry experts. List of judges TBA (last year’s judges included experts from Meta, Ylab, and Ford Foundation).
- Feasibility of implementation
- Creative approach
- Analysis of strengths and weaknesses
Judges
Funda Gunes. PhD
Walu AI
Dr. Funda Gunes is a responsible AI leader and researcher, and Founder and CEO of Walu AI, an AI Execution Intelligence platform for AI-driven adaptable governance. She served as Head of Responsible AI at MetLife, spent a decade as Principal Data Scientist at SAS Institute, and directed Duke University’s Master’s Program in Statistical Science. She holds a PhD in Statistics, an AI automation patent, and is AIGP certified.
George Dohanich
Principal Architect
Google Cloud
George Dohanich is a Principal Architect at Google Cloud with 30 years of experience on the front lines of the IT and Cloud industry. As a Principal Architect, he helps organizations bridge the gap between ambitious ideas and real-world implementation, and is a devoted advocate for building secure, responsible, and practical AI solutions. His enterprise perspective and appreciation for the human impacts of technology was shaped by leading senior technical teams at T-mobile and Sprint before joining Google.
Hazem Mahmoud
Director of Products & Services
Patrick J McGovern Foundation
Hazem Mahmoud is the Director of Products & Services at the Patrick J McGovern Foundation. Hazem has over 20+ years of engineering and management experience in various industries (finance, advertising, non-profit, and technology).
In 2018, Hazem moved into the philanthropic sector, joining Cloudera Foundation (which merged with PJMF in 2021) as a Data Solutions Architect. In 2023, Hazem took the role of Director of the newly formed Products & Services team, to build out the team along with the first AI products they would develop. Products & Services develops and deploys responsible and safe data and AI solutions for the social good sector.
Awards
All participants will receive event swag. The first 100 registrants will receive T-shirts.
The winning team will win a $1000 Gift Card and have the opportunity to share their work on stage at the Conference on Society-Centered AI to hundreds of representatives from academia and industry. The winning team will also be highlighted on both the Duke SCAI website and the conference website.
The SCAI Hackathon is committed to fostering diverse perspectives and inclusive discussions. We strongly encourage participation from individuals of all backgrounds and disciplines.
