Student hackathon

2026 Chemeca Student Hackathon

The hackathon will comprise of two rounds. In the first round, there will be an introductory session in which the specific hackathon problem is revealed, followed by briefings by industry experts, and a Q&A session that will assist in developing your entry.

During the following weeks, each team will work on their proposal and at the conclusion in early August, teams will be asked to submit a short, visually appealing document of no more than two A4 pages (or one A3 page) and a short three to five minute video presentation outlining their proposed solution.

Finalists from the first round will be invited to deliver an in-person pitch at Chemeca 2025 in Adelaide, South Australia.

Thank you to our 2026 Chemeca Student Hackathon Sponsor

  • The 2026 problem statement will be announced soon!

    • 4–6 Members

    • You are welcome to include up to 2 team members from disciplines other than chemical engineering

    • At least 4 team members must be able to attend Chemeca in Adelaide, South Australia

    • Open to undergraduate, masters or PhD students (maximum 2 PhD students per team) studying Chemical Engineering

    • Most universities have a nominated coordinator – they may be able to assist if you are having difficulty finding enough people to form a team

    • Each team member needs to register for the conference individually. Details will be sent to finalist teams on how to register.

    • 1st Prize – Mentoring with Hackathon sponsors and AUD $500 cash prize per team member  

    • 2nd Prize – Mentoring with Hackathon sponsors and AUD $350 cash prize per team member  

    • 3rd Prize – AUD $200 cash prize per team member 

    • Hackathon information session: Early April - Date and time TBC

    • Team entries close: Monday 25 May 2026 17:00 AEST.

    • First rounds entries due: Friday 31 July 2026, 12:00PM AEST/ 2:00PM NZST

    • Finalists notified by: Friday 7 August 2026

    • Chemeca conference: 28 - 30 September 2026

    • Hackathon twist begins: Monday 28 September 2026

    • Final pitch presentations and winner decided: Wednesday 30 September 2026

    • Chair: Emma King, GHD

    • Francois Lambrechts, GPA Engineering

    • Catherine Muldoon, IChemE

    • Benjy Lee, Future Fuel CRC representative

    • Can we have multiple students from other engineering disciplines (like mechanical, petroleum, mining) in our team?

      Unfortunately, we can only accept a maximum of 2 team members from another discipline. The rest of the team members must be studying chemical engineering.

    • Can I participate if I'm graduating this year?

      Yes! The competition is open to undergraduate, masters or PhD students (maximum 2 PhD students per team)

    • Can students from outside of Australia or New Zealand compete in the Hackathon?

      Unfortunately the competition is only open to students from Australian or New Zealand universities.

    • Does the team need to be in the same university?

      Not necessarily - you can ‘team up’ with members from other universities in your state/territory.

    • Is it possible to take part in the competition without being in a group?

      Due to the nature of the competition and the amount of work involved, only teams of 4-6 members will be considered for entry.

Chemeca sessions

During Chemeca 2026, there will be further elements to the problem revealed that will need to be incorporated into the final pitch.

To assist with delivering the best possible pitch, there will be a number of relevant Chemeca sessions to attend, together with the opportunity to speak to keynote speakers and conference participants during breaks.

The hackathon will conclude with each group giving a short presentation and answering questions from a judging panel of industry experts.