Datathon 2026
Date
Saturday, October 17, 2026
1:00 PM
Location
Davidson Auditorium
Status
Event concluded
AI Biz Club brought the Datathon to UT Dallas on October 17 to 18, 2026. Students gathered at Davidson Auditorium for speaker sessions, hands on AI for Good projects, and lunch before continuing the competition online. Explore photos from the event below.
Recap
Shooting Stars Foundation presents the Datathon, one of the world's largest AI for Good datathons. AI Biz Club is your campus gateway.
The essentials
- Dates: October 17 to 18, 2026 (24 hours)
- UT Dallas prize pool: $2,250
- First place: $1,000
- Second place: $750
- Third place: $500
- Global: 50+ countries, 16,000+ students
- Cost: Free for AI Biz Club members only
- No coding experience required
Datathon themes: AI for Good
- Real Time AI for Critical Decisions: Build systems that help people make better calls, faster.
- AI Secured: Innovation Without Exposure: Build AI that protects privacy and stays trustworthy.
- Wildcard: Beyond the Obvious: Go somewhere the brief doesn't.
How to register through AI Biz Registration through AI Biz Club is members only. Sign in with your member account to reserve your spot. After you RSVP, we'll email you the official Shooting Stars Foundation registration link to complete your application. This keeps you in our roster for campus support, team matching, and travel logistics.
Hosted by Shooting Stars Foundation · SSF Platform Collaborator: Hack2Skill.
Event agenda
Saturday, October 17 is in person at Davidson Auditorium, UT Dallas, until 5 PM. The Datathon then continues online. All listed times are CDT (UT Dallas / Chicago time).
Before the Datathon
| Activity | Date | Format | Time (CDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration closes | October 15 | Online | 11:59 PM |
| Datathon: Get Your LinuxONE System Ready · Mandatory for participants · Register | October 16 | Online | 10 to 11 AM |
Datathon: Saturday, October 17 · In person
| Activity | Format | Time (CDT) |
|---|---|---|
| Check in & T shirt pickup · Report to Davidson Auditorium and collect your T shirt | In person | 8 to 9 AM |
| Speaker sessions · Clayton Slaughter — z/VM and Linux System Programmer, IBM · Artem Kulagin — Infrastructure Engineer, Bank of America · Nizar Alsaid — Principal of Data Engineering, JP Morgan | In person | 9 to 10 AM |
| DATATHON BEGINS | In person | 10 AM onwards |
| Lunch break · RSVP for lunch | In person | 1 to 2 PM |
| Datathon continues online | Online | 5 PM onwards |
Datathon: Sunday, October 18 · Online
| Activity | Format | Time (CDT) |
|---|---|---|
| Datathon continues | Online | 12 AM to 10:30 AM |
| Closing ceremony | Online | 10:30 AM |
After the Datathon
| Activity | Date | Format | Time (CDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feedback survey / video | October 23 | Online | Midnight |
| Career panel & winner announcements | October 28 | Online | 10 to 11:30 AM |
| IBM Z Day · Mandatory attendance at one or more sessions lasting one hour | November 18 | Online | To be announced |
Lunch RSVP: Saturday, October 17 Lunch RSVP is separate from Datathon registration.
Event photos
