"AI versus AI" Hackathon
Dates: 20-24 April 2026
Aligning with the April 22 release of Eagle!
To leverage advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools and methodologies to revolutionize and optimize NOAA’s existing AI models, focusing on critical aspects such as rigorous unit testing, enhanced cybersecurity protocols, and significant improvements in operational efficiency. This hackathon invites participants to dive into a collaborative and competitive environment where they will have the opportunity to design and implement innovative solutions that bolster the robustness, security, and performance of NOAA’s AI systems. A key highlight of this event is the integration of the cutting-edge Anemoi framework as part of Project Eagle, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at redefining AI-driven capabilities. Participants will not only contribute to advancing NOAA’s technological capabilities but also gain hands-on experience in applying state-of-the-art tools to solve real-world challenges, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of artificial intelligence for environmental and cybersecurity applications.
Purpose of the Event
Highlight NOAA’s mission and the role of AI in advancing environmental research.
Emphasize the importance of model optimization, cyber resilience, and efficiency in AI systems.
“AI versus AI” Concept
Introduce the hackathon theme: using AI to enhance AI.
Explain how participants will utilize cutting-edge AI tools to improve NOAA’s AI models.
Expected Outcomes
Improve model accuracy and efficiency.
Implement robust unit testing mechanisms.
Identify and address cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Familiarize yourself with the EAGLE repository
Familiarize yourself with a large-language-model of choice for code generation. Here is a list of rankings.
Required Resources
Access to NOAA’s AI models or datasets for experimentation.
Cloud computing resources for running and testing models.
List of AI tools recommended for use (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, AI-driven cybersecurity scanners, etc.).
Mentors and experts available to assist participants.
Unit Testing
Use AI tools to create automated unit tests for existing AI models.
Evaluate and improve model reliability and accuracy through rigorous testing.
Cybersecurity Scans
Integrate AI-driven cybersecurity tools to proactively identify vulnerabilities in the AI models.
Develop strategies to mitigate risks and implement it to ensure model security.
Efficiency Optimization
Analyze algorithm performance and computational efficiency.
Use AI tools to recommend or implement optimizations to reduce resource consumption while maintaining or improving performance.
- Welcome and Opening Remarks
- Overview of NOAA’s AI initiatives and hackathon goals
- Explanation of rules, judging criteria, and deliverables
- Team formation and selection of challenge areas (unit testing, cybersecurity, efficiency)
- Morning: Technical workshops on AI tools
- Afternoon: Team development with mentor support
- Continued solution development
- Final project and presentation submission
- Team presentations to judging panel
- Evaluation based on impact, innovation, technical feasibility, and alignment with NOAA objectives
- Winners announced and awards distributed
- Innovation: Creativity and originality
- Impact: Effectiveness in solving the problem
- Feasibility: Practical implementation
- Technical Excellence: Quality and documentation
- Compile and share the winning solutions with NOAA’s AI research teams.
- Provide participants with certificates and opportunities for future collaboration with NOAA.
- Publish a summary of the event and its outcomes to promote NOAA’s commitment to innovation.
- The leadership team will talk with EMC and other offices within NOAA about projects that were completed, with the intent of seeing how they will work in operations. The plan is for your great work to be incorporated as innovation into these repositories.
