LEI Innovation Spring - a hackathon for all!

Join us at The LEI’s Innovation Spring: a two-day collaborative design event where you will design, build, prototype, and present solutions to advance first-generation student success. Your design work starts at our kickoff event, continues at your team's pace during the week, and ends with a final presentation to judges — with the opportunity to win prizes and receive ongoing support from the Learning Engineering Institute to further develop your idea.

The Learning Engineering Institute (LEI), in collaboration with University College, Access ASU, Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics, and additional campus partners, invite you to join an intentionally interdisciplinary team of faculty, staff, and students to co-design innovative, practical solutions that address real challenges faced by first-generation students. 

Compete to win:

1st Place - $1,500

2nd Place - $1,000

3rd Place - $500

This event is designed for individuals who:

• Are comfortable working across disciplines and institutional roles
• Value collaborative, human-centered problem solving
• Are open to experimenting with emerging AI and educational technologies
• Bring lived experience or professional insight related to first-generation student success
• Are interested in continuing to refine and potentially implement their solution beyond the two-day event

Reserve your spot by completing this Google Form by March 27th, at 5pm

Click here for an FAQ page about the event. You can also submit additional questions in the same page.

Event Details

Day 1: April 3, 8:30am-4:30pm, Hayden Library Design Commons

• A high-energy, guided design session to spring your ideas into action
• Engage directly with first-generation student experiences and institutional insights
• Design and begin prototyping a solution
• End the day with a solution concept and build plan

Idea Refinement April 4th-9th (asynchronously)

• Teams further develop their solution and finalize their presentation
• Opportunities for check-in and feedback from the hackathon team, judges, and first generation student consultants.

Day 2: April 10, 12-4pm, Hayden Library Design Commons

• Present solutions to a review panel
• Compete for implementation support and prizes

On March 27th, a week before the event, we will provide a zoom workshop with a tutorial on ASU’s CreateAI Builder, Principled Innovation, and Learning Engineering. This workshop is not mandatory.