MakeCU 2025
November 8-9th, 2025
Columbia University Robotics Club's 24-hour hardware hackathon
Join the DiscordSee last year's projectsHacking Deadline
About MakeCU
Whether you're a software developer, a hardware enthusiast, or someone eager to explore the intersection of both, MakeCU offers the perfect opportunity to collaborate, innovate, and bring your ideas to life. Work alongside fellow students on exciting, hands-on projects that make a real-world impact. Compete against other talented teams to win amazing prizes and showcase your skills. Don't miss out on this chance to build, learn, and network in a creative and safe environment! We welcome all interested students of any level to participate in MakeCU! Teams are formed with four members of any experience level and background. While we encourage you to register with an established team, don't worry if you don't have one yet — our team will assist you in finding your perfect match!
Makerspace Training
Complete these training modules before the hackathon to access the makerspace equipment!
General Makerspace Training
Specialized Equipment Training
Judges
Tony Dear
Senior Lecturer in CS at Columbia
Tony Dear is a Columbia University Computer Science teaching faculty member and faculty director of the AI Executive Education certificate and CS@CU MS Bridge programs. He teaches courses in math for CS, AI, and robotics, and co-designed the Data-Driven Decision Modeling graduate course. He also teaches Decision Making and Reinforcement Learning on Coursera. His research focuses on robotics, reinforcement learning, deep learning, and improving efficiency for complex systems.
David Watkins
Research Lead at RAI Institute
David Watkins is a research lead at the RAI Institute focused on the intersection of robotics hardware and software to create state-of-the-art robotics foundation models. Previously, he received his PhD from Columbia University from the Columbia Robotics Lab, advised by Peter Allen. He is also coauthor of the blog, whattotelltherobot.com, with Stefanie Tellex, discussing the intersection of language and robotics.
Josh Elijah
Founder of BotBlox
Josh Elijah is the Founder of BotBlox, a multi-million dollar hardware company that manufactures ultra compact networking and compute modules for drones and robots. Josh has deep expertise in electronics, robotics, manufacture and computer architecture.
Ali Al-Bustami
Researcher at the University of Michigan
Ali Al-Bustami received his Bachelor Degree in Mechatronics Engineering and is currently a Robotics Engineering Master’s Student and Robotics Researcher at the University of Michigan. He has 4+ years of experience as a Machine Learning Engineer specialized in Computer Vision, and served as a Robotics Judge in FIRST Robotics.
Tracks & Prizes
Best Beginner Hack
For first-time hackers—build anything that shows initiative, creativity, and a willingness to learn!
Hacker’s Choice
Voted by your fellow participants. Show off your originality and impress the hacker community!
ROBOTIS Track – Best Use of Dynamixel
Build something creative using ROBOTIS hardware! Explore robotics with DYNAMIXEL smart actuators and the OpenRB-150 platform.
ROBOTIS Hardware Provided (Loan Units)
- 30Ă— OpenRB-150 Starter Sets, which includes:
- 1Ă— OpenRB-150
- 1Ă— XL330-M288-T Smart Actuator (5V)
- 15Ă— XL330-M288-T Actuators (5V)
- 15Ă— XL430-W250-T Actuators (12V)
- Prize: Each member of the winning team will receive 1 OMX Set, shipped directly to their chosen location. (Maximum 3 Sets)
- Team Size: Up to 3 members per team.
- Hardware Use: Projects must use ROBOTIS hardware, but you may combine with other platforms/tools.
- Project Video Submission: Submit a short (1–2 minute) YouTube video showing part of your build/assembly process and the completed project in action. Production quality isn’t a judging factor—just demonstrate your creativity and functionality.
Sponsors
Platinum
Activities Board at Columbia
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Activities Board at Columbia
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Gold
BotBlox
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BotBlox
BotBlox builds the backbone of mobile intelligence — compact Ethernet and compute modules that power robots, drones, and mobile systems. We combine high-speed wired networking with edge compute, to enable edge AI and compute.
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Robotis
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Robotis
ROBOTIS (Robot is...), trusted since 1999, leads robotics with DYNAMIXEL smart actuators, offering modular solutions for movement and physical AI. From beginners to professionals, our versatile pipeline powers automation across multiple industries. DYNAMIXELs drive countless applications, accelerating innovation in physical AI, and reinforcing ROBOTIS as a pioneer in next-gen robotics.
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Silver
Viam
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Viam
Viam is a robotics platform built for speed and scale. Build with any hardware, deploy AI models, and control robots using open-source SDKs for Python, Go, TypeScript, Flutter, and C++. With hardware-agnostic APIs, built-in data management, and cloud sync, Viam handles the infrastructure so you can focus on innovation.
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Robify
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Robify
Founded in 2023, Robify is built by a passionate team dedicated to robotic product development and supply chain integration. We deliver comprehensive robotics hardware and software solutions, helping our customers turn ideas into fully integrated robotic systems. Our base is in Newark, Delaware, serves as the hub where innovation meets execution — from design and prototyping to testing and deployment.
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Dredd Industries
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Dredd Industries
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RAI
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RAI
Our mission is to solve the most important and fundamental challenges in robotics and AI.
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Bronze
Frequently Asked Questions
Unlike traditional software hackathons, hardware hackathons are events where participants come together to prototype and build projects using real materials. They offer an opportunity to apply electrical, mechanical, and software engineering skills to a real world project. Students will build familiarity with circuit design, soldering, working with sensors/actuators, develop skills using 3D printers, CAD software, and working with physical materials, engineering moving parts. You'll also develop programming skills for coding the logic behind microcontrollers or embedded systems.
MakeCU will take place on November 8-9, 2025 at Columbia University. More detailed schedule to come later.
We welcome all collegiate undergraduate and graduate students!
Not at all! We will provide workshops and mentors at the event to enable interested students of all levels participate.
Nope! All hardware will be provided at the hackathon.
We will do our best to provide all necessary equipment; however, you are encouraged to bring your own hardware tools, such as microcomputers, sensors, and mechanical tools, to enhance your project! Arduino kits, sensors, and more will be available. See the 'Hardware' section of the website.
Only if you want! Feel free to bring any kind of hardware or tools you want, but note that all projects must be assembled and built entirely within the duration of the hackathon to be counted for judging.
Teams must have at least 2 people and no more than 4 people.
No worries! We will make sure all participants will have a team. In person team formation will happen at the beginning of the event, and 1 week before the hackathon, we will send out links to our Discord server where members can form teams online based on similar projects and interests.
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