The Fincantieri Maritime Dual-Use Hackathon comes to San Francisco, October 16–18.Following the first edition in Rome, which brought together 70+ participants, including Italian Navy engineers, and produced five working prototypes, the challenge now crosses the Atlantic to the Bay Area’s deep-tech ecosystem.

Over 36 hours, engineers, developers, founders, researchers, and designers will form teams to build working solutions around real maritime and defense engineering challenges, with access to technical mentors, development hardware, and potential opportunities to continue developing the strongest concepts beyond the event.

Challenge Tracks

  • OT Cybersecurity & Blast Radius Analysis - How do you stop one compromised system from taking down an entire ship?

  • Piping Layout Optimization - Can algorithms find better piping and cable layouts than traditional engineering workflows?

  • Software-Defined Vessel - What if ships could upgrade and change missions as easily as software platforms?

Agenda

Friday, October 16

4 PM - Registration opens 5 PM - Welcome remarks by Organizers6 PM - Reveal of challenges7 PM - Formation of teams & start hacking 8 PM - Dinner

Saturday, October 17

8 AM - Breakfast9 AM - Hacking continues 12:30 PM - Lunch4:00 PM - Mid-Hack Checkpoint 6:00 PM - Dinner

Sunday, October 18

8 AM - Breakfast10:00 AM - Project submission12:30 PM - Lunch1:30 PM - Public Pitching3:00 PM - Award Ceremony

Build with Real Hardware

Participants will have access to a selection of Qualcomm and Arduino technologies during the hackathon, including Snapdragon-powered laptops, edge AI and robotics development platforms, Arduino prototyping hardware, and supporting developer tools.

These tools are intended for hands-on technical development. Participants with experience in areas such as software development, embedded systems, electronics, robotics, edge AI, computer vision, or hardware prototyping will be best positioned to take full advantage of them.

Qualcomm and Arduino technologies will be introduced during the opening session so teams can quickly understand the available resources and integrate hardware, edge AI, computer vision, sensors, or robotics into their prototypes.

Exact hardware configurations will be shared with participants ahead of the event.

Questions? Join our Discord!Ask questions about the event, connect with other participants, form a team, receive event announcements, and stay up to date throughout the hackathon.

👉 Join here: OFFICIAL DISCORD CHANNEL

More Than a 36-Hour Hackathon

The goal is not only to build a prototype, but to identify ideas with the potential to continue developing after the event.

  • Work on real Fincantieri challenges with potential relevance to future maritime and defense applications.

  • Compete for a Qualcomm-powered laptop awarded to the winning team (Approximate Retail Value: $1,200 USD).

  • Develop your concept beyond the hackathon: selected promising prototypes may have the opportunity to continue evolving.

  • Access Fincantieri expertise: winning and particularly promising concepts may receive mentoring from Fincantieri’s network of experts to help further mature the solution and explore its potential application within Fincantieri.

  • Connect with leading technical talent from industry, academia, venture capital, and the defense innovation ecosystem.

Partners & Ecosystem

The hackathon is powered by Fincantieri, Mind The Bridge and Silicon Mountain.

Qualcomm is the main technology sponsor, supporting participants with hardware, development resources, and technology expertise throughout the event.Ecosystem Partners:Berkeley Gateway AcceleratorBerkeley Institute for Security and GovernanceMission Applied BerkeleyGordian Knot Center for National Security InnovationSF Climate Tech ClubBay Area Ocean ClusterFLEETWERX Hustle Hours

Additional experts from Fincantieri, academia, industry, venture capital, and the defense innovation ecosystem will support teams through mentoring and judging.Full details regarding participation rules, eligibility, and data privacy can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

What to Expect

  • 36 hours of hands-on building and prototyping.

  • Real technical challenges provided by Fincantieri.

  • Access to Qualcomm and Arduino hardware and development resources.

  • Mentors and domain experts supporting teams throughout the event.

  • Collaboration with engineers, founders, and researchers.

  • A Qualcomm-powered laptop prize for the winning team.

  • Potential follow-on development opportunities for the most promising concepts.

No maritime background is required. However, this is a hands-on technical hackathon, and participants should be ready to contribute directly through software development, AI/ML, embedded systems, cybersecurity, robotics, engineering, CAD/optimization, product design, or prototyping.

Come with a team or find one at the event.

Spots are limited — register early to secure your place. Registration will close on October 15.To help us maintain an accurate headcount, a $20 refundable deposit is required to reserve your spot. The deposit will be fully refunded upon your attendance at the event.