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At the 56吃瓜网, the annual hackathon event is an opportunity for students from every academic discipline to connect with fellow tech enthusiasts, learn new skills and combine forces to build something together from scratch. Each year, students are invited to put their minds together as part of a team to think creatively around a central theme. 

There was but one simple task for this year鈥檚 participants: to save the world. 

The 56吃瓜网 Bothell student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery has hosted the annual event since 2017, with past themes including a Garden Innovation Challenge to support the campus garden and 鈥�56吃瓜网B Hacks AI鈥� where students created solutions related to artificial intelligence. 

This year鈥檚 event 鈥� 鈥�56吃瓜网B Hacks: Save the World鈥� 鈥� encouraged students to unleash their inner hero, unite with others and rise to the challenge of solving some of the planet鈥檚 biggest problems. Hosted in the Activities & Recreation Center April 25鈥�27, the hackathon not only drew the largest attendance in its nine years running but was also one of the biggest student-led events in campus history, with more than 600 participants representing colleges and high schools from across the greater Puget Sound region. 

Biggest ever 

Turning this event into the largest one yet was no small feat. It was the work of not just one person or club, but many different people and moving parts across campus and beyond. The planning team included members from multiple campus organizations and several sponsors, including 56吃瓜网 Bothell鈥檚 School of STEM and School of Business as well as the returning sponsor, Avanade, a management consulting company. 

鈥淭he scale and success of the Hackathon is made possible by Avanade鈥檚 partnership with 56吃瓜网 Bothell,鈥� John Naumann, 56吃瓜网 Bothell鈥檚 director of corporate and foundation relations, notes. 鈥淲e are extremely grateful for Avanade鈥檚 vision and unwavering support of our students.鈥� 

One of the things that set this year apart was the expansion from a single event to a 鈥淢onth of Hacking,鈥� noted Hannah Kim, ACM president and a senior in Computer Science & Software Engineering. Throughout April, the planning team partnered with several clubs to put on the events, including 56吃瓜网 Bothell鈥檚 Badminton Social Club, Inclusive AI, WiCyS (Women in Cybersecurity Student Chapter Club), Bothell Consulting Association, Alliance 4 Sustainability, Delta Sigma Pi, GrayHats and Google Developer Group, as well as Cascadia College鈥檚 Kodiak Engineering Club and Programmers Club. 

The series began with ACM鈥檚 kickoff event, where participants dove into different interactive challenges, such as speed networking, rapid team formation to form hypothetical startups, a surprise team-swap exercise and the final pitch event. 

The month-long series also incorporated pillars from a new set of judging criteria that the team developed this year. To be successful in the 2025 hackathon, teams needed to excel in at least three of the five pillars: Collaboration, Impact & Action, Development, Better Future and Innovation. 

鈥淭he intention here was to encourage students to take advantage of all the opportunities that the hackathon presented,鈥� said Breanna Powell, ACM vice president and鈥痑 CSSE鈥痝raduate student. 鈥淲e wanted to encourage both individual growth and teamwork.鈥� 

Impactful solutions 

Teams could select from six tracks for their project, including Business, Personal Development, Entertainment & Media, Biotech & Medical, Government and Safety & Security. Through these tracks, students created projects with impacts ranging from helping people build new habits to raising awareness about bee conservation. 

A few dozen judges, comprised of faculty and industry professionals, evaluated projects based on their alignment with the theme, the pillars and the teams鈥� chosen track. 

One of the track winners was 鈥淜now It,鈥� a Chrome add-on that instantly scores article reliability, suggests trusted sources and flags phishing emails. Another was 鈥淩outeWatch,鈥� an app that helps users identify the safest walking routes using real-time or historical crime data. 

鈥淲e gave them opportunities to hone their skills and grow as individuals by trying new technologies, like Ironman testing out a new suit,鈥� Powell said. 鈥淲e also gave them opportunities to form diverse teams and work across disciplines, like the Avengers coming together to 鈥楽ave the World.鈥� 

鈥淭he grand prize winners accomplished all of this and more.鈥� 

One grand prize winner was chosen from the six track winners: The judges selected 鈥淪tillMe,鈥� an app that aims to bring comfort and connection to people with dementia and their families. 

Value of teamwork 

When they walked into the hackathon on day one, the four people who would go on to win the grand prize had never met or worked together before. At the meetup for participants without a team, Juan Ramirez, a graduate student studying Software Design & Development, thought strategically about who he wanted to join him. 

It was there that he met Omar Elfarahaty, a sophomore premajor, and Quan Giap, a software development student from Bellevue College who worked on the design and development aspects of the project. Looking to round out their group with some expertise that went beyond the technical, they welcomed Susi Munoz, a senior majoring in Business Administration. 

鈥淥ne of the judges said that it was exactly what they were hoping would come out of the hackathon 鈥� the combination of computer science and business majors working together,鈥� Munoz said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important to know what your skillset is and how it can complement someone else鈥檚.鈥� 

The team hit the ground running from the start, throwing out a myriad of ideas before landing on 鈥淪tillMe.鈥� Munoz worked on market research, interviewing a few people with family members who have dementia to identify what features would be most useful. Elfarahaty and Ramirez handled the front-end development, while Giap worked on the back end. 

At the end of the three-day event, the team had a working prototype of the app. It included features such as a carousel of images with information about a user鈥檚 loved ones, a calendar for important dates (such as birthdays), a messaging feature with voice recording, a journal for notetaking and a way for caregivers to manage the app remotely. 

They also walked away with the grand prize: $2,250 in cash and a pair of XREAL Air 2 glasses for each team member.鈥疶he team credits its success to good communication, an impactful idea, and Munoz鈥� business acumen and presentation skills. 

Real-world potential 

鈥淲hat was most rewarding was that we didn鈥檛 know each other, but we found a really strong team in each other,鈥� Elfarahaty said. “We communicated well, did the project well and ended up putting something together which I found to be very impressive. And the pitching and the business side played a major role in us winning, because without it we wouldn鈥檛 have been able to showcase the amazing product that we had.鈥� 

The group鈥檚 advice for future hackathon students is to not worry about going into it with a fully formed team but instead to be open to the unique skillsets and ideas of fellow participants. 

鈥淭his event was challenging because it took me out of my comfort zone,鈥� Ramirez said. 鈥淢aking this group and building this project was a really good way to get out of that comfort zone and incredibly rewarding to have won the prize. 

鈥淪o it doesn鈥檛 matter if you have a team. Just go and participate, because you never know what you might gain.鈥� 

Like many of the teams who created a meaningful project by the end of their experience, the group has talked about the possibilities of making their prototype a reality. As 鈥�56吃瓜网B Hacks: Save the World鈥� proved, not all heroes wear capes. With the right team and a good idea, anything is possible. 

鈥淭his year’s theme was special,鈥� Powell said. 鈥淚 truly believe that we unleashed the inner superhero of all the participants, especially the grand prize winners.鈥�