Last February 500 students got together at the Palmer Commons on the campus of the University of Michigan for a hackathon. Michigan Hackers and MPowered, two student groups on campus, put together the hackathon which Forbes called the largest student-run hackathon.

The February event was inspired by a similar hackathon on the campus of Penn State called PennApps. David Fontenot, the director of MHacks, attended the Penn State gathering and wanted to hold something similar in Ann Arbor.  The February event spurred 125 hacks, which did in fact make it the largest student run hackathon.

In September, the hackathon returns to the University of Michigan, and this time they’re making it much, much bigger. For starters they’ve changed venues and moved the hackathon to Michigan’s football stadium “The Big House.” The hackers, who are welcome won’t be hacking on the field but in the luxury suites on top of the stands. Organizers do promise fun activities on the field itself.

They’re picking up the hacks as well. 125 hacks was quite a feat, but at the September event they plan on having over 1000 hacks.

Students from any college are welcome, and the organizers at U of M have extended invitations to 100 universities in surrounding areas. They are sponsoring buses from surrounding colleges, making travel to the hackathon free. If a student hacker wants to attend and hack at MHacks and there’s no bus in their area, MHacks will provide a $200 travel stipend. There will be plenty of caffeine, and all six meals will be provided free of charge.  Undergraduate students from anywhere in the world are welcome to participate, and they will make exceptions for some high school students and graduate students.

Student teams can have up to 4 members and there is no limit on the amount of student teams. Teams can hack together whatever they want. They just can’t work on an existing or previous project.

MHacks will be held September 20-22nd (Friday night through Sunday morning). You can register here for free!

A week later in Cincinnati, is this epic startup event…