Hack&Roll 2026:
24 Hours, 238 Projects, One Community That Builds
When 800 participants gather with laptops, soldering irons and a single question: what can we build? The answer is never just one thing.
Hack&Roll 2026, the flagship annual hackathon organised by NUS Hackers, returned this January for its 15th edition, bringing together builders from across Singapore’s tech community for 24 hours of open-ended experimentation, creativity and problem-solving.
With no theme and no prescribed problem statements, participants were free to explore ideas that mattered to them. Over the course of the weekend, 238 unique projects emerged – from playful hardware experiments to thoughtful technical prototypes – each reflecting the spirit of learning-by-doing that has defined Hack&Roll since its beginnings.
Learning Before the Build
The hackathon was preceded by eight pre-event workshops held in the days leading up to the main event. These sessions introduced participants to new tools and concepts, including hands-on hardware work with ESP32 microcontrollers, helping both first-time hackers and seasoned builders feel confident before the clock started.
One of this year’s highlights was Hack&Roll’s first-ever custom PCB badge, which participants eagerly personalised throughout the event – a small but meaningful symbol of the community’s maker culture.
A Project Fair Powered by the Community
Rather than closed-door judging, Hack&Roll culminated in a lively project fair, where teams demonstrated their work to a diverse panel of 138 judges drawn from Singapore’s tech ecosystem. Startup founders, industry professionals and faculty members from NUS School of Computing engaged directly with participants, offering feedback, questions and encouragement.
The result was an atmosphere that felt less like a competition and more like a celebration of ideas – with judges and hackers learning from one another across disciplines and experience levels.
Among the many inventive projects was QuackForSizzle, a cooking game that replaced traditional controllers with microcontroller-rigged frying pans equipped with gyroscopes and NFC sensors – a crowd favourite that embodied the playful ingenuity on display.
microcontroller-rigged frying pans, complete with gyroscopes and NFC sensors.
Marking 15 Years of Hack&Roll
“This year marks the 15th iteration of Hack&Roll, where we introduced something special – our first-ever custom PCB badge,” said Jonathan Loh, President of NUS Hackers. “On behalf of NUS Hackers, we are incredibly grateful to our sponsors, judges and especially our participants for their support. We hope this event inspires everyone to go out and build something, or anything.”
As the largest student-run hackathon in Singapore, Hack&Roll continues to be a cornerstone of the local student tech community – not just as a competition, but as a shared space for curiosity, collaboration and confidence-building.
For many participants, the real takeaway was not the prizes, but the experience of building alongside hundreds of peers, discovering new skills, and realising what is possible in just 24 hours.
