Computational Optics + AI Hackathon 🇨ðŸ‡
- Date
- 2025-05-27
- Location
- EPFL AI Center Lounge (ELE 117), Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
- Host
- Personal
About this event
Computational optics is moving fast, and AI is changing what teams can build in a single evening. If you care about imaging, perception, simulation, or the tools that help machines understand the physical world, this hackathon is a focused chance to work with other curious builders in person at EPFL. Set in the EPFL AI Center Lounge in Lausanne, this event brings together people interested in the overlap between optics, computation, and intelligent systems. Expect a hands-on, collaborative atmosphere where ideas get tested quickly, technical conversations go deep, and prototypes matter more than polished slides. About the Event This is an in-person hackathon built around one clear theme: exploring what happens when computational optics meets AI. That can mean a lot of things in practice, from imaging pipelines and optical sensing to computer vision, autonomy, simulation, reconstruction, or model-driven approaches that connect physical systems with learned models. Rather than a passive meetup, the format is designed for doing. You will meet other attendees, form connections around shared technical interests, and spend the evening moving from concept to experiment. Whether you arrive with a project idea, a problem you want to explore, or simply a strong interest in the space, the event is structured to help you turn conversation into work. Because the theme sits between hardware-aware thinking and modern machine learning, the room is likely to include people coming from different angles. That mix is the point. Some attendees may think first in terms of optics, sensing, and systems; others may think in terms of models, data, and deployment. The most interesting outcomes often happen where those perspectives meet. What to Expect The evening begins at 6:00 PM GMT+2 on Tuesday, May 27 and is centered on active collaboration. While the exact flow may adapt to the room, you should expect a sequence that supports both quick onboarding and meaningful build time. A typical rhythm for this kind of event includes: Arrival and informal networking so you can get a sense of who is in the room Idea sharing and problem framing around computational optics, AI, autonomy, and related technical challenges Team formation or project matching for people who want collaborators Focused hacking time to build, test, sketch, simulate, or prototype Demo-style sharing or discussion so teams can show progress, compare approaches, and get feedback You do not need to show up with a finished concept. In many cases, the strongest hackathon projects start with a clear question rather than a complete plan. You might spend the evening validating an idea, exploring a new dataset or model, mapping an optical pipeline, or pressure-testing a concept with people who understand adjacent parts of the stack. The event also offers something that is often missing from online technical communities: real-time exchange. It is easier to solve edge cases, sketch architectures, challenge assumptions, and discover collaboration opportunities when everyone is in the same room. Why Attend If you are serious about the intersection of physical systems and intelligent computation, this is a high-signal environment. You will be around people who care about building, not just talking, and the shared theme makes it easier to skip surface-level intros and get into useful technical detail quickly. This hackathon is valuable whether your goal is exploration, learning, or momentum. You might leave with: A new collaborator for a research or side project A clearer technical direction for an idea you have been sitting on Feedback on an approach related to optics, imaging, perception, or AI Exposure to how others frame problems in autonomy and computational systems A rough prototype, experiment, or concept worth developing further There is also real value in seeing how others think across disciplines. Computational optics and AI each have their own tools, assumptions, and bottlenecks. Spending an evening with people who approach similar problems differently can sharpen your own methods and reveal opportunities you would not have found working alone. For students, researchers, engineers, and independent builders, this kind of event can compress weeks of isolated thinking into a few hours of productive discussion and experimentation. Practical Details This is an in-person event hosted at the EPFL AI Center Lounge (ELE 117) in Lausanne, Switzerland. The setting is well suited to a collaborative hackathon: accessible, social, and oriented toward live discussion and working sessions rather than formal presentation-only programming. The event starts on Tuesday, May 27 at 6:00 PM GMT+2. Since it is a hackathon-style gathering, it is a good idea to arrive ready to participate actively. If you have a laptop, project idea, relevant code, research question, or even a short list of problems you want help thinking through, bring them. A few practical ways to prepare: Bring whatever you need to work comfortably for an evening session Come ready to explain your interests in one or two clear sentences If you want collaborators, think about the problem space you want to explore If you prefer to join an existing team, be ready to share your skills and curiosity Most importantly, come with a builder's mindset. You do not need to be an expert in every part of the theme to contribute. If you are excited by the overlap of optics, AI, autonomy, and real-world technical systems, this is the right place to meet others who are ready to experiment alongside you.
Who should attend
This is for people who want to think seriously about how AI and computational optics can create useful systems, and who would rather build with others than stay in theory mode. - You work in **AI, machine learning, computer vision, or autonomy** and want to apply your skills to sensing, imaging, or physically grounded problems. - You come from **optics, photonics, imaging, or signal processing** and are curious how modern AI methods can expand what is possible. - You are a **student, researcher, engineer, or technical builder** looking for a room where people can move quickly from idea to prototype. - You have a **project idea, research direction, or open technical question** and want feedback from people with complementary backgrounds. - You enjoy **hackathon-style collaboration**: short cycles, fast learning, and direct conversations that lead to working experiments. - You do not need to be an expert in every topic, but you should be excited to contribute, learn in public, and engage with the overlap between computation, optics, and intelligent systems. If you have been looking for a focused community around these themes in Lausanne, this event is a strong place to start.