Harbor Hackfest Builds a Tide-Gauge Kit the Port Can Install

Harbor Hackfest ran December 12–13, 2025, in the ground-floor studios of Hester Hall, which was still awaiting furniture. Eleven teams, all AES students, had 36 hours and a written brief from the Calder Bay Port Authority: a tide gauge a two-person crew can bolt to an existing float, with a parts list and a data format the Harbor Data Observatory already accepts.

The brief was narrow on purpose

The port’s engineering office wrote the brief. It asked for a device, a bill of materials under $400, a mounting drawing, and a one-page failure note saying what the gauge will not do. It did not ask for a platform, a brand, or a pitch to an investor. Prof. Luis Ortega judged with the port’s engineer, Mara Ellison (no relation to the provost), and a machinist from the laboratory shop.

What won

The winning team was Jonah Ibarra, Priya Sethi, Owen Blake, and Camille Ngo, all third-year students in coastal engineering or computer science. Their gauge uses a sealed ultrasonic sensor, a printed bracket that fits the Pilot Cove float cleat, and a logger that writes the observatory’s existing hourly schema. The parts cost $362 at the prices they documented on December 13.

The port agreed to install one unit at Pilot Cove in March 2026 and to compare it with the staff gauge for one month before deciding whether to order four more. That comparison is a port project. It is not a startup.