Quincy Larson traveled to Hong Kong to serve as a judge at SeaHack. There were more than 250 developers and builders from over a dozen countries. The challenge? Team up, brainstorm, and build a working AI startup from scratch before the clock runs out.

If you've ever wondered what it's like to participate in a high-stakes hackathon, or if you just want some inspiration for your next coding project, you will want to check this out.

Throughout the event, Quincy walked the floor, interviewing developers who were battling sleep deprivation to get their MVPs deployed before the strict 3:30 PM deadline. It is amazing to see what small teams can accomplish with modern AI tools and a tight time constraint.

Here are just a few of the clever projects built during the event:

• An AI Cantonese Tutor: An app that visualizes tones and grades pronunciation in real-time, complete with a feature to learn by singing along to Cantopop.

• "Tinder for Loans": A platform designed to lower the friction for loan applicants by letting them submit quick video pitches that lenders can quickly swipe on.

• A Privacy-First Local CRM (REFT): A customer relationship management tool built for local small businesses. It connects directly to WhatsApp or Telegram and runs completely locally, keeping sensitive customer data safely out of the cloud.

• A Conversational Gift Recommender: An LLM-powered engine that helps people buy the perfect personalized toy for someone else's child by gathering information to generate a custom story and matching product recommendation.

More than just a coding competition, events like SeaHack highlight the global scale of the tech community. The organizers emphasized that the future of AI isn't confined to Silicon Valley. There are thriving hubs of innovation in places like Hong Kong where East meets West.

Whether you are a seasoned software developer or someone who has never touched a code editor before (like a few of the participants Quincy interviewed!), hackathons are an incredible way to learn, network, and turn a concept into a live demo.

Watch the full video to see the frantic final minutes of deployment, the live presentations, and the final judging process.

TreeHacks isn’t your average coding marathon. For its 12th year, it attracted 15,000 applicants, but only 1,000 were lucky enough to be accepted. Over an intense 36-hour nonstop hackathon weekend, hackers from all over the world collaborated, coded, and created with a mission not just to build cool tech, but to make a real social impact.

The documentary highlights projects that blend AI, hardware, and pure imagination into tech that feels futuristic. A judge put it perfectly: “I want to see something that makes me question why there was a box in the first place.”

Watch the full documentary on the freeCodeCamp.org YouTube channel (2-hour watch).

In this film, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson explores the "ocean of developers" who navigated an intense 36-hour sprint to turn raw ideas into functioning prototypes. From grueling application processes to sleeping under tables on air mattresses, the documentary captures the true grit required to compete at the world's largest collegiate hackathon.

The documentary follows students from across the country. You’ll witness the diverse range of problems these hackers chose to solve, including:

• Social & Accessibility Tools: Projects like an ASL translator using motion control and tactile visual aid devices for the visually impaired.

• Government & Financial Innovation: AI-driven systems designed to slash Social Security processing times from seven months to two days.

• Creative AI & Robotics: The "Burger Bot" automated food assembler and "Figure Flow," which turns body movements into musical instruments.

• Engineering Humor: A "Deodorant Robot" equipped with odor sensors to maintain hygiene in crowded coding rooms.

The journey wasn't without its obstacles. By Saturday morning, the initial excitement often gives way to work as participants face technical hurdles. This year, students had to "chase the waves" of Wi-Fi across the venue or resort to mobile hotspots to keep their projects alive.

Director: Beau Carnes
Sound and Camera: Sunday Ajak
Camera: Nathaniel Tham
Music: Quincy Larson

Watch the full documentary now on the freeCodeCamp.org YouTube channel.