Kappa Theta Pi and Boyd Innovation Center Host PalmettoHacks Hackathon
News related to:Kappa Theta Pi · 2 min read · Updated
Kappa Theta Pi and the Boyd Innovation Center are bringing Palmetto Hacks, a 24-hour hackathon, to Columbia on October 10-11. This event, organized by USC’s chapter of Kappa Theta Pi and presented by the Boyd Innovation Center, is open to students from any college or university, regardless of major or experience level.
Participants will have access to mentors, workshops, overnight build space, and free meals before presenting their projects to judges on Sunday. The prize pool stands at $2,500 and growing, including $1,000+ for first place. The event is backed by corporate partners including QNX, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Capgemini, CVS Health, Dominion Energy, and with support from USC's Faber Entrepreneurship Center. Their involvement connects participants with companies across software, healthcare, energy, and technology consulting.
The Boyd Innovation Center sees student-led events like this as a critical pipeline between the region's technical talent and its startup community.
The hackathon is divided into five tracks: Clean Energy, Hardware, Startups, AI/ML, and Cloud. Projects draw on design, research, data, business, and product skills alongside software and hardware. By Sunday, every team has a demo, prototype, or pitch, plus experience tackling an open-ended problem on a deadline and connections with mentors, judges, and industry professionals. For many students, that work becomes the project they keep building or the story they tell in their next interview.
Event Details: - WHAT: PalmettoHacks, a 24-hour student hackathon - WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 10 at 9 a.m., to Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026 - WHERE: Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. - WHO: Students from any college or university, all majors and experience levels - COST: Free, meals included - REGISTER: palmettohacks.com
The event is part of a broader ecosystem of tech innovation in Columbia, supported by the Boyd Innovation Center, a tech startup hub that helps founders build scalable technology companies in the region. The center provides programming, workspace, resources, and a community for startups to grow and stay in South Carolina.