24-Hour Hackathon
October 24-25, 2025

A Hackathon to Transform how NextEra Energy Prepares for any Challenge

OCTOBER 24-25, 2025

4pm Friday to 3pm Saturday
@ the FSU Innovation Hub

*with 8-hour break for sleep at home

EVENT INFORMATION

NextEra has roots that are 100 years old! Help design its Next 100!

Up to $1200 in cash prizes!

Three meals included!

Free event t-shirts & giveaways for all participants!

A great opportunity to make new connections, gain marketable skills, and make a difference in the world!!

REGISTER NOW!

THE CHALLENGE

The grid is under attack!

Hackers, hurricanes, natural and manmade disasters threaten our power and electric infrastructure. It is likely to get worse.

As we consider growing threats to our power infrastructure:

How might we help NextEra Energy leverage game-changing technologies, AI, breakthrough data insights and revolutionary processes to deliver solutions that can transform how we prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies today and in the future.

The future of emergency response lies in leveraging cutting-edge technologies, AI, and data-driven insights. We're looking for hackathon teams to develop breakthrough solutions that can transform how we prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies, whether it's a hurricane, cyber attack or other event that requires rapid response to protect our customers, employees and stakeholders.

The Challenge Awaits: Break the mold of conventional emergency response. What game-changing technologies, breakthrough data insights or revolutionary processes could help NextEra Energy respond faster, smarter, and more effectively than ever before?

This event is open to ALL MAJORS!

Coding and programming skills NOT required!

Only 50 seats available!

REGISTER NOW!

TENTATIVE AGENDA

FRIDAY, OCT 24

Teaming, Planning, Ideation

3:00 PM - Check-in

4:00 PM - Welcome and Introductions

4:15 PM - Hackathon: Rules of Engagement

4:30 PM - Team Formation

4:45 PM - Design Thinking Workshop

5:15 PM – “The Hack” Background Information

Introduction to NextEra Energy and Florida Power & Light
Leveraging Technology & Innovation
Overview of Emergency Preparedness Events and Current Playbook

6:15 PM - Dinner & Getting to Know You

7:00 PM - Expert Panel Q&A

7:30 PM - Let the Hack Begin!

Experts available for consultation

Midnight - Hub Closes

Teams may work on their own at the Hub until midnight, or work elsewhere. Take some time to sleep so that you feel sharp and rested on Saturday.

SATURDAY, OCT 25

Ideation, Prototyping, and Pitching

8:00 AM - Check-in, Breakfast & Networking

8:30 AM - Expert Panel Q&A and Hackathon Tips and Tricks

11:00 AM- Hacker Interviews with the team

12:00 PM - Lunch & Networking

12:30 PM - Pitches Due & Team Photos

1:00 PM - Pitch Presentations Begin

Format: 5 minutes, 5 slides maximum
Q&A: 2 minutes per team

2:30 PM - Awards Ceremony & Wrap up

LOGISTICS

Our Hackathon brings together students from all majors, with differing skills, creating 10 teams with five students each, and challenges them to solve the challenge above using Design Thinking. Solutions can take any form including apps, physical inventions, services, systems, or a combination of the above.

Design Thinking is an innovation framework that consists of

Empathy: Learning about the problem space
Reframing: Focussing in on a part of the problem to address
Ideation: Coming up with a unique and impactful solution by first exploring many solutions
Prototyping: Building a visual model of your solution to easily present it for feedback
Pitch: Selling your idea to a panel of judges