Student Clubs and Corporate Sponsors Host First Student-Run Hackathon at Stevens
The exciting competition drew double the expected participants to design solutions to challenging prompts set forth by industry leaders
For 29 straight hours on the weekend of March 29-30, nearly 400 students representing all majors — double the expected turnout — met on campus at Stevens Institute of Technology for Quack Hacks 2025, the first Stevens-hosted hackathon that was entirely student-run. The event, spearheaded by computer science majors Anna Hauk ’26, Olof Persson ’25, and Humna Sultan ’26, had five industry partners present to provide fun challenges for diverse student clubs to collaborate, investigate real-world problems, network with companies who support their success, win prizes, and eat lots of snacks.
“Hackathons are typically 24-hour code competitions during which teams develop unique solutions to a specific challenge put to them,” explained Hauk. “The goal is to brainstorm and bring to life a functional application of a prototype solution in a very limited timeframe.”
The organizing students envisioned Quack Hacks as a unique opportunity for different Stevens clubs to work together to plan and host a large event — an event that took eight months to plan and began with the simple question, “Why not?” The student organization Stevens Women in Computer Science served as the lead organizer, with Stevens Computer Science Club, Blueprint, Stevens Cyber Defense Team, Software Engineering Club, Stevens IEEE chapter, Stevens Linux Users Group and members of the Stevens Connect 4 LLC all stepping up to contribute and ensure Quack Hacks was a success.
The lead organizers’ early efforts to recruit potential sponsors were met with overwhelming support. “ADP Payroll Services, Chubb, Databricks, Amazon Web Services, and Dyania Health were immediately on board and eager to provide both front-facing partnership opportunities such as learning seminars, custom prompts, networking opportunities and prize packages, along with behind-the-scenes support through funding, advice and manpower,” said Hauk. “We are so very grateful for their generous and enthusiastic participation in our first-ever Quack Hacks!”
Hauk admits to feeling “thrill — and a little panic, and then the scramble to accommodate — double the number of students anticipated showing up to participate.” To kick off the competition at 11 a.m. on Saturday, participants enjoyed breakfast while listening to keynote speeches from representatives from ADP and Chubb. Hauk says the energy during the opening ceremony was palpable, with students anxious to get hacking. Other highlights included late-night yoga, a Just Dance session, and more midnight snacks. All around, the event was met with enthusiastic feedback from sponsors and attendees alike.
Instrumental throughout the planning and execution of the hackathon were Dave Naumann, professor and chair, and Megan Whittemore, senior operations manager, both in the Department of Computer Science. Rekha Manohar, associate director of external relations in University Relations, was an integral part of the planning and execution. Hauk said that Philippe Meunier, teaching associate professor, and William Eiers, assistant professor, served as “amazing and indefatigable volunteer judges.” Stevens Adjunct Professor and alumni Rocco Polimeni, computer science B.S. ’22 and machine learning M.S. ’23, took on the daunting task of reviewing all the hacks from the Quacks.
Naumann served as advisor to the Quack Hacks planning team and helped facilitate department support, including securing speakers.
“It was really the students who were in the lead with great ideas, organization, and followthrough, said Naumann. “On the opening morning of the event I was delighted by the very high turnout. The organization ran very smoothly, and it was great to have several sponsoring organizations giving keynotes and workshops. I hope this is just the first in an ongoing series, and I’m thrilled that the Quack Hacks team set such a high standard in every regard.”
In total, there were 399 total registrants, 63 registered student teams and 40 project submissions. The inaugural Quack Hacks winners were as follows:
Best Overall: Caremigo — A centralized health online health portal that demystifies doctoral jargon and makes medical documents understandable.
ADP Prompt Winner: CareerIQ — An AI assistant that turns payroll and market data into actionable career advice.
Chubb Prompt Winners: Caremigo and Community Risk Monitoring — Addresses safety and health concerns using innovative tech solutions.
Ari Birnbaum Community Impact Award: Frigid — A web app visualizing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention data in New Jersey and offering legal resources.
Best Design: Future Nest — A tool for evaluating sustainable housing based on climate risk.
Most Innovative: Education Redefined Through Immersive Augmented Reality (AR) — A storytelling and AR-based learning platform.
Attila’s Favorite: The Duck Experience — Stevens student-made web interface that attempts to capture the classic duck experience by giving people an opportunity to share their ducks with the world.
Hauk could not be happier with how the event ran. “We knew we had a hit on our hands when attendees started asking us how they can be part of planning next year’s event,” she said. "With growing support from students, the clubs, the IT department, the Stevens community, and our sponsors — all of whom have asked to partner with us again — Quack Hacks will continue to scale and shine a light on the talent and success of Stevens students.”