UNSW actually stands for 'U Never Sleep Well' and one team took that literally
By William Nguyen3 min read · April 15, 2025
Terrible Ideas Hackathon at UNSW Sydney, April 2025. (UNSW Founders)
Uni life is already packed with late-night study sessions and 3am panic moments. But earlier this month, things got even wilder.
The Terrible Ideas Hackathon returned to UNSW for its third run - bringing 47 hours of chaos that gave us tables made of people, sleep-ruining gadgets and a nightmare pillow called... U Never Sleep Well.
(Yes, that creation shares the same acronym as our uni. Yes, it won an award. How perfect.)
U Never Sleep Well Project, UNSW Sydney, Australia, April 2025. (UNSW Founders)
What even is Terrible Ideas Hackathon?
It’s a global challenge that’s been run in London, Auckland and now Sydney. The brief?
Forget good ideas.
Come up with the worst thing you can think of and make it real.
Over one very Red Bull-fuelled weekend, 70 students came together to do exactly that. No pitch decks. No pressure. Just pure, unfiltered creative chaos.
You didn’t need to be a coder, designer or engineer, just someone down to build something ridiculous and back yourself while doing it.
Terrible Ideas Hackathon in Auckland, New Zealand, March 2023.(Terrible Ideas Hackathon)
The award-winning terrible ideas
This year’s 14 teams really delivered:
👂U Never Sleep Well Anti-Sleep Pillow: A pillow that whispers to you and moves while you sleep.
Award: Photo Award
🪑 Portable table: The "Undisputed Worst Idea" (which is actually the highest honour).
Instead of table legs... people. They started with cardboard Friday night and by Sunday had three tables: one for mini golf, one for Catan and one with drink holders. Actual innovation??
📱 Step trap: Don’t hit your step goal? The app sends an embarrassing text to your boss or ex.
Award: Most Improved
🤰 Mamma Drama: A fake pregnancy bag to get you priority seats on public transport.
Award: Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder
🖼️ Troll booth: A photo booth that purposely makes your face look weird.
Award: Shut Up and Take My Money
🗣️ Trump voice assistant: Exactly what it sounds like.
Award: Most Impressive Waste of Computing Power
💦 Acyedemic Kanye: Look away from Kanye and get insulted + sprayed with water.
Award: Crashed and Burned (But No One Got Hurt)
Honourable mentions:
Taser keyboard: Make a typo, get zapped.
Cricket chat bot: Plays live cricket noises after bad jokes. (Yikes.)
📸 Check out the full project page Terrible Ideas Hackathon
Why we love supporting this madness
At UNSW Founders, we back this event because trying to build something terrible helps students discover what they're capable of.
Students who’d never built anything before were suddenly making working prototypes. Teams used AI, 3D printing, CAD, electronics and more - not because they had to, but because they wanted to.
And that’s what makes it magic.
As Hayden Moore from UNSW Founders put it:
“This is about having the confidence to fail, try things nobody else is doing and go against what's normal.”
When failure is the goal, the pressure disappears - and suddenly, learning gets fun again.
So here’s to the whispering pillows, the human table legs and every sleep-deprived student who made this wild weekend possible.
And to Team U Never Sleep Well - your idea was wonderfully horrible. Well done.
Students in the MCIC Makerspace, Terrible Ideas Hackathon, UNSW Sydney, Australia. (UNSW Founders)
Social Media Assistant
William is the guy behind the posts at UNSW Founders. He’s currently studying Education and Media Arts at UNSW, with a soft spot for storytelling that helps students back themselves - whether it’s launching a side hustle, starting a business or just figuring out what’s next. Outside of work, he’s usually at a concert, listening to jazz, eating his weight in seafood or making TikToks (for fun and research). Fun fact: he can turn literally anything into a LinkedIn post.
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