College students hack their way through weekend at 1871

1871 is a place that never sleeps. But this weekend, the tech incubator inside the Merchandise Mart will be buzzing with more over-caffeinated young coders than usual.

Starting this afternoon, 80 college students will descend on 1871 for a weekend hackathon.

Aspiring engineers, designers and business types from local universities will divide into teams to build a product or company in a weekend. They'll be coached by mentors from Google, Motorola Mobility, Centro, Belly, BrightTag and SingleHop.