Welcome, to Critical Ops: A DC National Security Hackathon

This event is hosted by Georgetown's McDonough Military Alliance, MBA Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club, students from Johns Hopkins University, students from George Washington University, In-Q-Tel, Squadra Ventures, and VCinDC. 

Presentation oder:

  • aegis-swarm
  • Matching Industry Solutions to Military Capability Gaps
  • Guardian Angel
  • SeaForge
  • Aegis
  • Aegis Strategic Command
  • enel (edge-network environment lattice)
  • Resilient Drone Swarm Search
  • Project Hail Mary - Combat Medic AI Companion
  • Signal Atlas
  • Acorn
  • JARVIS
  • Swarm Navigator
  • Sentinel
  • Aurora
  • RedString
  • ViewPilot
  • Boom.
  • VulcanMind

Requirements

Requirements

 

For this hackathon, we’ve curated problem themes directly from the US Military, industry partners, and government officials.

Building for National Security Starts Here

​Join 100+ engineers, builders, and operators for the DC National Security Hackathon on April 17–19, 2026 in the nations capital.

​Full website: http://dcnatsechackathon.com/

​Goal

​Bring together builders, government stakeholders, and investors to work on real-world national security challenges.

​This is about moving from ideas to prototypes to real deployment pathways.

​What You’ll Do

​Work on problem sets sourced from operators across:

  • ​🚁 Autonomy & Counter-UAS

  • ​📦 Contested Logistics

  • ​🛡 Cybersecurity & Critical Infrastructure

  • ​🧬 Biotechnology

  • ​🤖 AI Agents

​Build anything from software and AI systems to hardware-enabled solutions.

​What You’ll Get

  • ​Access to frontier AI tools & Datasets (OpenAI, Meta, and ElevenLabs)

  • ​Direct feedback from operators and domain experts

  • ​A high-signal community of builders

  • ​Exposure to venture capital and national security leaders

​Demo Day

​Curious what gets built? Join us on Sunday for live demos and judging.

​Agenda

​Friday, April 17, 2026

​Kick-off Day

​15:00 - 16:30 - Post-Conference Reception (Georgetown University)

​17:00 - Doors open, Check-in, Networking (National Innovation Quarter)

​18:00 - Welcome by Organizers, Overview of Hackathon

​18:30 - Presentation of Problem Statements

​19:00 - Meta Workshop Presentation

​19:30 - Fireside Chat - Advice for Presentations

​19:50 - Team Formation, Open Networking, Start of Hacking

​21:00 - Venue closes for the evening

​Saturday, April 18, 2026

​Hacking continues all day

​09:00 - Mentor Office Hours Begin

​(Mentors, operators, and sponsors available throughout the day)

​Sunday, April 19, 2026

​12:00 - End of Hacking

​Demo Day (Open to Registered Visitors)

​12:30 - Project Demonstrations & Judging

​14:00 - Award Ceremony

​14:30 - Closing & Networking

Discord With More Information Coming Soon

 

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

4 non-cash prizes
1st Place Overall Winner
1 winner

To be announced

2nd Place Overall Winner (& OpenAI Track Winner)
1 winner

To be announced

3rd Place Overall Winner (& Eleven Labs Track Winner)
1 winner

To be announced

Meta Track Winner
1 winner

To be announced

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

Sam Koralnik

Sam Koralnik
Georgetown University

Judging Criteria

  • Technical Execution (40%)
  • Impact (25%)
  • Creativity (15%)
  • UI/UX (10%)
  • Pitch Quality (15%)

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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