Build the future of American ActivismAmerican Defense |

This is one of the broadest and most ambitious categories at DNHacks. Students are invited to tackle national security challenges across the full stack: software, hardware, and everything in between. Project areas include cybersecurity, command and control systems, edge compute, drone technology, and naval warfare systems.

On the hardware side, participants may have access to a physical makerspace with 3D printers and components provided by industry partners, enabling teams to build and prototype real systems. For domains like autonomous naval or aerial systems, structured simulations and partner-provided datasets can serve as the foundation for projects.

One of the most pressing problems in modern cybersecurity is agent trust. As agentic AI systems take over more workflows, verifying that an AI agent is behaving as intended and cannot be compromised becomes critical. Projects might focus on designing testing frameworks, adversarial red-teaming systems, or trust verification protocols for autonomous cybersecurity agents.

Our industry partners will help define specific challenge prompts within this category, so teams will have the option to build toward well-scoped, real-world problems or explore open-ended innovation of their own.

America needs to industrialize at scale, and this category is where that work begins. Projects span the full range of industrial technology: satellite-based models for identifying optimal mining sites, hazard detection systems for industrial environments, analysis tools that make drilling cheaper and less environmentally damaging, and wearable sensing platforms for field workers.

Energy infrastructure is another rich area. Participants might explore decentralized systems that allow energy producers, such as solar panel owners, to sell excess power back to local grids or directly to consumers, creating more resilient and efficient markets.

Agriculture technology is also in scope here. From robotics that can perform precise field operations to satellite imagery models that forecast crop yields, there is enormous opportunity to modernize how America grows food and manages land at scale.

This category is supported by partners who operate at the intersection of technology and physical industry, and projects here have the potential to reach production environments well beyond the hackathon weekend.

This category is focused on the interface between technology and public service. Government websites, healthcare systems, and federal workflows touch hundreds of millions of Americans every day, yet they often lag far behind the standards of modern software. DNHacks participants in this category will build tools that genuinely improve that experience.

Example projects include: a telehealth platform designed for low-bandwidth rural connections, enabling patients to attend appointments from home without needing fast internet; a candidate screening tool for federal hiring that matches resumes to open roles and surfaces relevant qualifications like veteran status; and an AI assistant that helps everyday users navigate and complete complex government forms.

Projects in this category are evaluated not just on technical quality, but on their potential to reduce costs for taxpayers and improve the experience of interacting with government. We are working with partners in the administration who are actively looking for talented engineers and designers to help modernize critical systems.

The blockchain ecosystem is growing fast, and there are genuine infrastructure gaps that talented engineers can close. This category invites participants to build the tools and systems that make decentralized finance more usable, trustworthy, and accessible.

One compelling area is payments infrastructure. Political campaigns, nonprofits, and small businesses increasingly want to accept cryptocurrency, but reliable, user-friendly wallet solutions for those use cases barely exist. A well-designed contribution wallet with configurable spending controls, audit trails, and compliance features could have real and immediate impact.

Interpretability is another open problem across blockchain systems. As smart contracts and on-chain protocols grow in complexity, understanding what they actually do and proving that they behave as intended becomes harder. Projects that bring greater transparency and auditability to on-chain activity are both technically interesting and practically valuable.

Participants who are already deep in the blockchain world will find room to pursue ambitious ideas. Those newer to the space will be supported by company partners who can help frame concrete, well-scoped challenges.

Some of the most interesting projects defy easy categorization. The Open Category exists for teams with a strong idea that does not fit squarely into Defense, Energy, Health, or Blockchain. If your project sits at the intersection of multiple domains, or if you are exploring entirely new territory, this is the right home for it.

Partners in this category include general-purpose venture funds and investors who are excited by ambitious, cross-cutting technology. Teams here are judged on the strength of their idea, the quality of their execution, and the real-world impact their project could have at scale.