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SCHEDULE
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9:00 - 9:30 AMRegistrations - Auditorium Side Entrance
Kick off HackFRee with a special welcome from the 501st Legion ⭐
This legendary Star Wars fan organization, known for their stunning, movie-accurate costumes, will be there in the morning to greet participants. Don’t miss the opportunity to take photos with these iconic characters as they bring the Star Wars universe to life.

✨ New this year: A display of 3D-printed Star Wars props, showcasing advanced fabrication and design.
✨ Participant Showcase Opportunity: Have you built or designed something Star Wars–inspired?
Bring it with you and share your work - we would love to display participant creations alongside the 3D-printed props.
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9:30 - 10:00 AMOpening Ceremony: Welcome and Overview of the Day
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Tech Workshops: Concepts, tools, real-world applications
Bootcamps*: Skill-building, hands-on coding, step-by-step learning, leveled sessions
Design / Build Challenge: Creativity, rapid prototyping, teamwork
Immersive Tech Experience: Exploration through emerging tech
Community & Engagement: Social, celebration, energy

*You can join all or select some bootcamp sessions. If you're a beginner, we recommend starting at Level 1 and attending all sessions. Bring your Chromebook/Laptop to ALL tech workshops.
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10:00 - 11:00 AMC104 Tech Workshop: Orange. Understanding AI Systems and Exploring AI-Powered Careers
Dr. Milind Sawant, President & CTO, American AI Tech | Former Siemens Healthineers AI & Engineering Leader

This interactive workshop introduces Orange, an open-source AI and machine learning tool, to help students understand how real-world AI systems are built and evaluated. Using Orange’s visual, workflow-based approach, students will explore the machine learning pipeline—from data to models to results—without focusing on coding. The session also highlights how AI is used across fields such as engineering, healthcare, business, environmental science, and research, and the variety of technical and non-technical roles involved. The workshop is accessible to students with all levels of experience. The session is accessible to students with varying levels of technical background.
💻 Device Note: If you’re bringing a laptop, please download Orange Data Mining before the workshop. Try to watch the introductory video as well. You can also download the data set that will be used during the practice exercise.
Chromebook compatibility is limited. Chromebook users can follow along with the instructor. A limited number of laptops to check out will be available. Please let me know if you would ike to sign out one. Either way, the workshop offers valuable insights into how machine learning works.		C110 Design / Build: Strongest Structure Design Challenge
Julia Bawar and Sejal Nagrani, Students, MNHS

Build the strongest, free-standing structure with the time alloted and limited materials. Structures will be tested for strength and stability, and top-performing team will receive a prize.		Or start working on your project!
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11:00 AM - 12:00 PMB101 BootCamp: Programming Raspberry Pi with Python
Dr. Dennis Evangelista, AP Physics and Engineering Teacher, MNHS

Level 1: Dive into the world of microcontrollers with a hands-on introduction to Python programming using the Pi Pico! In this workshop, students will connect a Pi Pico to their Chromebooks and kick off with a classic "Hello World" program. From there, they’ll explore core programming concepts - receiving user input, basic loops, and conditional statements (if-then-else) - all essential building blocks for coding. With just one 1 hour session, students will walk away with new coding skills and insights into how Python can be applied to electronics projects. All materials will be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own.
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12:00 - 1:00 PMLUNCH - Cafeteria LUNCH - Cafeteria LUNCH - Cafeteria LUNCH - Cafeteria LUNCH - Cafeteria LUNCH - Cafeteria LUNCH - Cafeteria
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REMINDER!1 pm - Initial Project Registration is DUE 1 pm - Initial Project Registration is DUE 1 pm - Initial Project Registration is DUE 1 pm - Initial Project Registration is DUE
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12:30 - 1:00 PMC104 Tech Workshop: Intro to Bioinformatics
Mary Russo, Science Teacher, HHS
Stephanie Arlacon, Diego Pacheco-Corril, Jalen Capili, Students, HHS

Join the Waksman Student Scholars of HHS and explore the exciting field of bioinformatics! This workshop will begin with an introductory presentation on bioinformatics and real-world applications, including but not limited to DNA barcoding. Students will be tasked with a mock investigation involving the application of bioinformatics tools to detect potential food fraud, as cooking is among our favorite hobbies! Students will use DNA Learning Center’s DNA Subway, a student-friendly bioinformatics platform to collect evidence for the investigation. Through the “sushi gate” activity, students will be identifying fish species by DNA barcodes while also taking a modern approach to solving the problem of potential mislabeling of some of our favorite foods.		C100 BootCamp: Intro to Language Modeling with Neural Networks ("Build your own LLM")
Vihaan Sondhi, Student, CNHS

Level 1: This workshop will give participants a fundamental understanding of neural networks—the basic building block of almost everything we call "AI"—from the ground up. We'll be boiling away all the complexities and get to the core of what neural networks are and why they work. We'll cap it off by creating a basic neural network live and demonstrate what all the theoretical concepts we've covered look like in code.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge from Algebra 2 (you just need to know what a function is).

Level 2: Participants will move from knowledge to practice by building a word-generating neural network on their own (they'll have just built their first language model!). We'll move on towards an in-depth explanation of the transformer architecture and demonstrate how big of an advancement it was in the context of the neural network we just built (transformer is the T in GPT).
Prerequisites: A moderate level of experience with Python and an understanding of neural networks. As a rough benchmark, the Python experience should be around the level of experience one would have from AP CSA if it was in Python instead of Java. 		B101 Levels 2 and 3 : Take your Python and Pi Pico skills to the next level by adding motion and interactivity! In this workshop, students will connect a small SG90 servo motor to their Pi Pico using a breadboard or jumper wires, creating their own "math teacher" program that tests users with math problems. If the answer is correct, the servo spins in celebration! After mastering the basics, students will have the freedom to personalize their projects by adding new features like random questions, unique servo motions, or even LED lights for extra feedback. This workshop is perfect for building problem-solving skills and learning about integrating electronics into Python programs.
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1:00 - 1:30 PMC110 BootCamp: Web Development
Mason Levine and Ishaan Sharma, Students, MNHS

Level 1: Introduction to potential forms of creating a website. This will include languages that are beneficial to know in order to design and create a website, with reasoning as to what are the pros and cons of each. Since it is the first level, we will only detail creating a website with a website maker, which will not include the use of actual code. We will overview aesthetic values, and important steps to take in the customization process.
Resources: Computer with VSCode installed, and the live server extension. Participants can also use Repl.it with an HTML template repl.
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1:30 - 2:00 PMC100 Level 3: We'll walk through the code of a transformer and have participants build one themselves with all of the gnarlier details already filled in. Once we're done, we'll go through these gnarly details and explain all of the finnicky parts that really let transformers work. Afterwards, we'll do a quick whistle-stop tour to scratch the surface of other important subjects like tokenization, reinforcement learning, and optimization, and give participants pointers to resources they can use to self-study in the future.
Prerequisites: Experience building a neural network with Pytorch and a solid understanding of the transformer architecture (or haven taken the last level).
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2:00 - 2:30 PMC102 Design / Build Workshop:
Rubik's Cube
Aryanna Cetrulo, Student, MNHS		C110 Level 2: Learning to create a basic website with HTML+CSS, by either linking other files or integrating different languages within one file. We will show the syntax for formatting, styling, and implementing images.C106 Immersive Tech Experience: VR Stations
Gotta Go Gaming Hub

Sign UP at the event required.

Mars Quest: Welcome to Mars! As premiered at World Expo in Dubai you and your friends now have the possibility to take your first steps on the surface of planet Mars!

Human Anatomy: Unlock the Human Body’s Secrets with Human Anatomy VR! Your gateway to mastering human anatomy in an immersive, intuitive, and entertaining way!

Beyond Blue: After The Storm This is a VR ocean exploration / conservation game that invites players to dive into underwater environments, study marine life, and engage in environmental narrative.
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2:30 - 3:00 PMFor anyone interested in learning more:
C100 Level 4-5: A surface-level intro to Reinforcement Learning (basic tabular RL, Q learning) followed by a deeper dive into Deep Q Networks and Policy Gradient method approaches (and how to use them to make your language model actually do useful things).
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3:00 - 3:30 PMC104 Design / Build Workshop: Origami
Edmund Lee, Student, MNHS		C110 Level 3: This level consists of Javascript, but depending on the general skill level of those in the bootcamp, we may only introduce JavaScript syntax and continue with HTML and CSS. If the room is more advanced (has previous knowledge of the syntaxes), we will shorten the introduction to Javascript and instead focus on important features such as interactive elements. Community & Engagement: FTC Robotics Scrimmage
Dr. Dennis Evangelista, FTC Teams 13115 and 32294 Advisor

Join us for an FTC-style robotics scrimmage featuring both Brave Robotics teams along with additional invited teams. The event will follow the FTC match format, with a series of qualification matches designed to give teams meaningful drive time and opportunities to test strategies and code. Anyone interested in learning about FTC and robotics is welcome—whether you are new to robotics, considering joining a team, or simply want to see how competitive robotics works. Come watch matches, explore the robots up close, and talk with students about engineering, programming, and teamwork.
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3:30 - 4:00 PM
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4:00 - 5:00 PMC102 Tech Workshop: 3D printing
Ben Peterson, Student, Lafayette College

Explore how ideas become real objects through 3D printing and additive manufacturing. Students will learn how 3D printers build objects layer by layer, how designs are created using CAD software, and how digital models are prepared for printing. The workshop introduces FDM, SLA, and SLS printing technologies, common materials, and real-world applications in engineering, medicine, sustainability, and design. Students will gain a practical understanding of how 3D printing is transforming innovation and accessibility.		C110 Level 4: Building a full web application, both frontend and backend. We will be teaching Node.JS for the backend to run as a "server" which then connects to the frontend to make a fully streamlined, operational, and beautiful application.
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5:00 - 6:00 PMC100 Tech Workshop: Stock Market Analysis and Algorithmic Strategy
Ishaan Sharma, Student, MNHS

This workshop introduces the essentials of reading a market chart: trends, structure, key levels, and the confluences traders rely on before committing to a position. We’ll examine a few widely used strategies and break down the logic behind them, along with how that logic can be expressed in simple algorithms and code. Participants should expect a clear, grounded view of how trading decisions are formed. There is no promise of flawless prediction or quick profit; the focus is understanding the mechanics, the reasoning, and how to test ideas responsibly in simulated environments. By the end, you’ll have a solid base for analyzing price action and a foundation for building your own trading algorithm. Light coding knowledge is recommended, but not necessary to grasp concepts.		C104 Tech Workshop: Gene Mutation
Paula Reynaga, Student, MNHS

Explanation of how the process of evolution occurs due to mutations among generations, along with mutations obtained during the life time, and how they differ from one another. This will include discussions about how they affect a species, and more specifically, how mtations in humans affect both physical appearences and biological procceses.
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6:00 - 7:00 PMDINNER - Cafeteria DINNER - Cafeteria DINNER - Cafeteria DINNER - Cafeteria DINNER - Cafeteria
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7:00 - 8:30 PMTime to start finilazing your projects! Time to start finilazing your projects! Time to start finilazing your projects! Time to start finilazing your projects!
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8:30 PMDeadline for Projects Submission Deadline for Projects Submission Deadline for Projects Submission Deadline for Projects Submission Deadline for Projects Submission
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8:30 - 10:00 PMJudging - each team will get the meeting time
Community & Engagement: Cup Stacking and Karaoke
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10:00 - 11:00 PMCommunity & Engagement: Trivia Game
Closing Ceremony: Annoucing Awards and Raffle Prizes
Enjoy the Rest of Your Weekend!!!
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