Last weekend, I coded for 30 hours straight at Ireland’s first overnight hackathon. It was hosted at DogPatch Labs in Dublin and sponsored by Stripe, Intercom, Tines, and OpenAI. 150 computer science students took part, forming teams to build projects within the 30-hour timeframe.
One of the coolest parts of the event was attending talks by industry leaders (and, of course, getting some free merch). Des Traynor, co-founder of Intercom, gave an inspiring talk about his journey and what it takes for your startup to succeed. Stripe, Intercom, Tines, and OpenAI also shared insights into their latest projects and what it’s like to work at their companies.
My Experience: Coding Through the Night
I had an amazing time with my team, so much so that we decided to stay up all night working on our project. I was working on the frontend and learned so much- going in with only a little React experience and coming out feeling way more confident. The energy in the room kept us going, and even though we barely slept, we somehow managed to stay focused (with the help of a yoga break and lots of caffeine).
Our Project: AI-Powered Body Cam Analysis
Our project was a system that analyses body cam footage to flag potential misconduct. We were shocked to learn that nearly 950TB of footage is recorded annually in the US, yet much of it goes unreviewed, even as cases of police brutality keep making headlines. We wanted to create a tool to improve transparency. Using OpenAI’s latest models, we built a system that processes video snippets, detects tonal cues in audio, and generates summaries of potential incidents.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing—we had to work around API limitations and adapt to React 19 mid-project—but somehow, we pulled it off. Seeing our MVP come together, complete with an interactive map tracking cameras, made the sleepless night completely worth it.
Final Pitches and Looking Ahead
The final pitches were incredible. It was inspiring to see what everyone had built in such a short time, and the creativity on display was next level. I left the event feeling motivated and can’t wait for the next hackathon!