For just twenty-four hours, participants from the University of New Mexico and the community gathered at the Lobo Rainforest where 18 teams formed to fast-track and collaborate on developing their ideas. Teams refined ideas aimed at solving real-world problems, utilizing a technology, or creating something entirely new. This year’s event also provided a 3D printing lab for prototype development and mentors supporting teams.
The first evening kicked off with pizza provided by Pizza 9 and a series of introductory presentations. Speakers included Lisa Kuuttila, who led “Hacking 101;” Natalia McIver, PhD, who highlighted prototype resources; Gregg Banninger, PhD, who provided an intellectual property overview; and Robert G. Delcampo, PhD, who guided participants through pitching ideas and identifying problems.
Participants returned the next morning to the Lobo Rainforest to begin working on prototype development, a business model, and developing their pitches for the final presentations. Volunteer mentors from the community and UNM Rainforest Innovations staff were around to help answer questions and provide guidance as needed.
After twenty-four hours of intense collaboration, teams pitched their ideas to a panel of judges, followed by a few minutes of questioning, for the chance to win cash prizes.
The judges this year included:
- Tina Memarian, Entrepreneurship Coordinator, Technology & Innovation Office, Economic Development New Mexico
- Stacy Sacco, President, Sacco Connections, LLC
- Fred Siegele, Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Attorney
After much deliberation, the judges selected the following teams to split the prize pool:
- $5,000 awarded to StudySocial
- A Canvas integrated peer-to-peer study tool.
- $5,000 awarded to Harmony Editor
- Music composing software for the blind.
- $2,500 awarded to Team SAFETY
- Sentinel – Autonomous School Security System Transforming Cameras into Proactive Threat Defense.
- $2,500 awarded to DroneMax
- A complete autonomous ranch ecosystem — not just herding, but health, defense, and sustainability in a single platform.
- $1,000 awarded to EnviroGPT
- AI agent for environmental data that will facilitate the accessibility to the respective stakeholders.
- $1,000 awarded to Wavery
- An autonomous device that uses wave energy to power itself, enabling continuous, clean, and low-cost ocean monitoring with multiple applications.
- $500 awarded to Predict and Launch
- Fundraising platform for global dreamers built on blockchain rails.
- $500 awarded to Norteño Adventure Co.
- Creating a space where families can gather, kids can explore, and our community can continue to grow stronger together.
- $500 awarded to Drone Defense
- Project Radiant Shield, a drone mounted defense system.
- $500 awarded to Amanat
- Application that incentivizes task completion through monetary withholding.
This year’s Hackathon also awarded three $500 special awards for community-minded ideas. Two of these awards were funded by the Sklar Endowment Fund and an additional award was funded by Stacy Sacco of Sacco Connections, LLC.
- $500 community-minded special award given to Norteño Adventure Co.
- $500 community-minded special award given to University 5 Devices (U5D)
- Developing a universal first aid kit to include with fire extinguishers.
- $500 community-minded special award given to .human
- Ethical standard on AI.
The 2026 Lobo Hackathon once again highlighted the creativity, collaboration, and entrepreneurial spirit of the UNM community. Thank you to all the participants, mentors, judges, and sponsors who made this event possible.
