DAY
ZERO

Tomorrow Begins.

Register ↗ Mission Brief
The Blackout 00

There was no explosion. No warning. Just the slow, cumulative silence of a world unplugging itself — one system after another, until the lights that had burned for a century went out.

What remains is not ruin but a blank slate: the sum of human knowledge, intact, and the first engineers alive to use it.

The Premise 01

The Premise

Civilization has gone offline. Humanity retains its knowledge, but the infrastructure that powers society no longer exists.

  • No power grids01
  • No communication networks02
  • No transportation systems03
  • No hospitals04
  • No factories05
  • No satellites06
  • No internet07
  • No supply chains08
The Question 02

Most hackathons ask

"What technology can you build?"

DAY ZERO asks

"What should humanity rebuild first?"

Projects are judged by their impact on rebuilding civilization rather than by the technologies they use.

The Pillars 03

The themes represent engineering roles within a civilization, not technologies. Teams should select the theme that best reflects the purpose of their solution.

I

Ignis

"The First Spark."

Every civilization begins with something that awakens it. Energy generation, power electronics, batteries, renewable energy, power grids, thermal engineering.

Energy Power Storage
II

Nexus

"Nothing Exists Alone."

Civilization is defined by connections. Communication systems, networking, satellites, mesh networks, IoT, cloud infrastructure, distributed computing.

Network IoT Security
III

Atlas

"The Weight of Civilization."

Every society rests upon invisible foundations. Infrastructure, transportation, manufacturing, construction, cities, logistics, supply chains.

Infrastructure Logistics Cities
IV

Vita

"To Sustain."

Survival is engineering. Healthcare, medical devices, biotechnology, agriculture, water systems, food systems, environmental engineering.

Health Agriculture Water
V

Aether

"Beyond the Horizon."

Civilizations are remembered by how far they reach. Space engineering, aerospace, drones, robotics for exploration, navigation, remote sensing.

Space Drones Exploration
VI

Sapientia

"The Mind of Civilization."

Knowledge survives every collapse. Decision systems, digital twins, human-computer interaction, education technology, and the tools that preserve and transmit what we know.

Systems Education Knowledge
VII

Aegis

"What Endures."

A civilization is judged by how well it survives failure. Disaster resilience, safety engineering, reliability, predictive maintenance, cyber resilience.

Resilience Safety Security
VIII

Nova

"The Unknown."

Some ideas create entirely new categories. Moonshot ideas, frontier engineering, quantum technologies, advanced materials, cross-disciplinary innovation.

Moonshot Quantum Frontier
The Mission 04
Phase 1

Registration

Teams register and choose the civilization pillar their project belongs to.

Phase 2

Mission Brief

Teams receive the DAY ZERO scenario and begin designing solutions.

Phase 3

Development

Design, prototype, simulate, and validate the solution.

Phase 4

Submission

Mission report, engineering design, prototype, scalability analysis, failure analysis, and future roadmap.

Phase 5

Grand Showcase

Finalists present their solutions before judges.

Suggested Deliverables

  • Engineering reportPDF
  • Source codeGIT
  • CAD / PCB / SchematicsDWG
  • Simulation resultsDATA
  • Demonstration videoMP4
  • Pitch presentationDECK

Core Rules

Build solutions that address the DAY ZERO scenario. Projects may use any technology. Theme selection should reflect the purpose of the solution, not merely the tools used.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is encouraged.

The Verdict 05
Criterion Description
Civilization Impact How critical is the solution to rebuilding society?
Engineering Excellence Technical depth and soundness of the proposed solution.
Innovation Originality and creativity in approach and implementation.
Scalability Can it serve millions? Does it scale beyond the prototype?
Resilience Can it survive failure and disasters? Fault tolerance analysis.
Feasibility Can it realistically be implemented with available resources?
Presentation Clarity, communication, and demonstration quality.
The Builders 06

The teams
that lit the first spark.

ÆTHØS is convened by organizing teams who believe the next civilization should be engineered on purpose. They design the scenario, run the mission, and stand behind every team that shows up to rebuild.

01

Together We Solve

Lead Organizing Team

A community of engineers and designers running open, purpose-driven builds. TWS frames the DAY ZERO scenario and curates the civilization pillars.

ORGANIZER
02

AlphaForge

Organizing Team

AlphaForge engineers the submission systems, judging pipeline, and the infrastructure that keeps the mission online from brief to showcase.

ORGANIZER
Supporting Partners 07

Built with partners
who believe in the rebuild.

We welcome partners who share our vision for rebuilding civilization through engineering — from cloud and hardware sponsors to universities, labs, and mission-aligned foundations.

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Tagline

Tomorrow Begins Here.

History remembers the civilizations that were built.

ÆTHØS 2026