Student hackathon

Hackathon format

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.

Team registrations are now open! Register your team by Monday 26 May for the 2025 Chemeca Student Hackathon.

  • This year’s competition focuses on decarbonising cement production and associated infrastructure across Australia and New Zealand and the task is to:

    Create a conceptual design to provide an alternative to current cement production with a focus on lowering carbon intensity during processing and/or increasing the efficiency of gaseous fuel infrastructure to decarbonise cement production in Australia or New Zealand.

    Click here to download the full case competition scope and problem statement.

    • 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)

    • 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: Wednesday 9 April, 17:00 – 18:00 AEST.

    • Team entries close: Monday 26 May 2025

    • First rounds entries due: Friday 1 August 2025, 12:00PM AEST/ 2:00PM NZST

    • Finalists notified by: Friday 8 August 2025

    • Chemeca conference: 28 - 30 September 2025

    • Hackathon twist begins: Sunday 28 September 2025

    • Final pitch presentations and winner decided: Tuesday 30 September 2025

    • 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 2025, 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.

Students presenting at Chemeca

Hackathon webinar series

Chemeca 2025 Student Hackathon Information Session

09 April 2025

We held our first information session for this year’s Chemeca Student Hackathon, attracting over 70 enthusiastic students and professors from across Australia and New Zealand.

  • Our Hackathon Chair, Emma King, kicked off the webinar with an overview of this year’s problem statement, detailing the process for entering the hackathon, along with key dates and exciting prizes. Following her introduction, a dynamic panel discussion led by Benjy Lee from Future Fuels CRC captivated the audience.

    Benjy introduced our panelists—Michael Kilgariff, CEO of Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia, and Felicity Lloyd, Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer at ADBRI—who shared valuable insights into the cement industry and its sustainability challenges. They drew on their vast expertise to provide students with a deeper understanding of how this knowledge could be applied to craft innovative and impactful hackathon entries. 

    We extend our thanks to our presenters and participants for making the first webinar a great success. With team registrations now officially open until Friday 26 May, we’re eagerly anticipating your creative contributions. We look forward to seeing the incredible ideas that will emerge from this year’s competition!

Thank you to our presenters

  • Michael Kilgariff

    CEO, Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia

  • Felicity Lloyd

    Chief Sustainability & Innovation Officer, ADBRI

  • Benjy Lee

    Future Fuels CRC