The Nido Hackathon 2026 brought together over thirty students from Nido de Aguilas and Craighouse for a weekend of building, pitching, and — for many of them — doing something they had never done before. Hosted at Universidad de Desarrollo (UDD) on April 10 and 11, the event challenged student teams to design and build working apps around the theme "Getting There."

Students kicked off Friday evening with student emcees framing the theme, followed by a keynote from Pere Palés, Cofounder and CEO of Unlearni, an EdTech platform built around the idea that staying relevant in a changing world means being willing to unlearn as much as you learn. Palés spoke to students about what it actually takes to build something that matters. 

Teams then formed and had their computers installed with app-building tools, ready for the next morning. Nido Alumnus Alan Berstein wrote software ahead of the event to help streamline this process for teams and get their AI coding environments up and running quickly.

On Saturday, teams began brainstorming and building apps using automated coding tools, thanks to the generous support of the Nido Annual Fund. This enabled participants to build working, presentable apps in a single day. Students wrote prompts and used AI agents to build software step by step, iterating to get it to match their visions for the projects.

Students also worked with support from UDD professors, university students, and industry experts, who met with each group to provide feedback on both their product and pitch.

Judging at the end of the day was handled by a panel that included UDD students, Palés, and Berstein.

Not everything was about programming. During lunch on Saturday, a team from Raltech arrived with a Boston Dynamics Spot robot, and students got a hands-on look at what the machine can do. They took turns at the controls, watched it navigate the stairs of the main working area autonomously, and learned from the Raltech team about how it uses sensors and software to move safely across different terrain. It was another opportunity for students to understand where technology is headed.

Three teams were selected by the judges as winners. Taking third place was PassionPath, a location-based platform that helps students in Santiago find volunteering and community engagement opportunities at local companies and organizations. Second place went to MatchUp, a tool that connects high school students with internships, competitions, and hackathons by using AI to score how well each opportunity matches a student's profile and background. First place went to DG Terra, a game-based simulation that challenges players to develop renewable energy infrastructure using real statistical data. Judges noted that the project stood out for both its ambition and its polish.

Notably, two of the three winning teams included members with no prior software development experience before the event.

Other projects from the weekend:

• A step-by-step onboarding guide for immigrants and tourists navigating entry into Chile, using AI support to walk users through legal registration, banking, housing, and essential services in the right order.
• Hobbyist, an app that uses AI to help users identify addictive habits they want to change and find hobbies that genuinely fit their schedule, budget, and interests.
• Impact, a platform designed to help companies and municipalities track and communicate their environmental and community contributions in real time rather than relying on end-of-year reports.
• A platform for finding the best online course or video on any topic, paired with an AI tutor that answers your questions about whatever the user is watching or reading. 

The event was made possible through the collaboration of Nido de Aguilas and Universidad de Desarrollo, and with support from the Nido Annual Fund. Food and drinks were provided by ICB Food Service, Not Co, Sabores Americanos, and other private donors.