# Recruitment A successful hardware hackathon hinges on assembling a multidisciplinary community. You must intentionally market to and recruit individuals from beyond the typical computer science and software engineering pools. The core message across all roles must be: There is a place and a role for everyone here, as long as they are curious and ready to collaborate from the expert coder to the first-time maker. Check out our [marketing section](/general-information/marketing-your-event.md) if you want timelines and templates! ## Participants The tangible nature of hardware projects creates a massive opportunity for diverse participation. Emphasize combining interests and appeal to seeing everyone grow and make. Alternatively, emphasize the event is learning-first and varying levels of experience are expected. | Recruitment Focus | Target Audience Examples | How to Market to Them | | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Across Disciplines | Engineers (ME, EE, Computer), Designers (Industrial, UX), Artists, Scientists, Humanities (Writers, Ethicists). | Explicitly state in promotional materials that all majors and backgrounds are welcome. Hardware requires a “whole product” approach, not just code | | Across talents | Students who may not self-identify as “hackers” but excel as crafters, designers, storytellers, etc. | Use gender-inclusive recruiting trends, such as emphasizing the event's outputs (creative, tangible things) and using photos of diverse teams and their creations. | | Wary individuals | Students concerned about the “hardware learning curve” | Mention the availability of resources (documentation, mentors, AI, experienced team members). Encouraging the use of AI as an assistant or extra team member may help. | ### How to Form a Strong Hackathon Team Invite participants to form multidisciplinary teams to allow for efficient parallel creation. This approach is vital for hardware builds, where coding, fabrication, and design must happen simultaneously. A successful multidisciplinary team typically includes four core roles to maximize efficiency: * A programmer handles microcontrollers, firmware, and API integrations; * A fabricator handles wiring, 3D printing, laser cutting, and component assembly; * A designer handles UI/UX, structural planning, and materials/crafting use; and * A visionary handles storytelling, time management, and presentation (Project Management) Someone on the team should also be focused on quality assurance and debugging. ## Mentors Mentors provide deep technical expertise and crucial thematic context. Recruit from sources that reflect the required disciplinary breadth: * **University Resources:** Faculty and alumni (especially ME, EE, Design), on-campus startups, and technical clubs (e.g., robotics). * **Partners & Sponsors:** Staff from makerspaces, fab labs, and engineers from sponsors who can provide technical assistance and specialized domain knowledge. * **Thematic Experts:** Recruit personnel from nonprofits or advocacy groups to speak to the event’s theme or tracks. Mentors should be comfortable balancing their expertise with leveraging AI to troubleshoot, demonstrating what today’s problem-solving looks like. ## Judges Judges must be able to assess both the code and the physical execution of a prototype. * Recruit experts from incubators, startups, established local fab labs, and makerspaces. * Recruit Faculty in engineering, design, art, and specialized applied fields (e.g., faculty collaborating on wearable tech). * Recruit key technical or design personnel from top-tier sponsors. ## Volunteers Volunteers are the backbone of logistics and hospitality. * Recruit from potential participants who may be wary of attending their first (hardware) hackathon. * Source from local companies or organizations that expressed interest but declined full sponsorship this year. * Recruit current users of your campus makerspace or tech labs, as they are already familiar with the environment. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://guide.mlh.io/hardware-hackathon-guide/recruitment.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.