Within the ProHackin’ project we have explored in depth the possibilities for the implementation of product hackathons into the engineering design curriculum. Two cross-course studies were conducted with the students participating in different project challenges. In the first study engineering design students were given a survey to collect the feedback about their experience during hackathons. The second study consisted of team report analysis and interviews, where the focus was on the use of design methods and tools in different stages of the design process. Both studies provided rich information and recommendations on how to best form and implement product hackathons into curriculum.
Incorporating product hackathons into the engineering curriculum can have numerous benefits. Students can easily gain new knowledge and acquire various hard and soft skills. As such, adjacent to this study, we have included suggestions on how the hackathon concept could be implemented into the other courses at project consortium institutions.