Freshman Wins Top Prize at HackNJIT, Zoo Theme Leads to Productive Apps

Students who developed software for game animation, package delivery, lecture transcription and wildlife sightings were all winners at HackNJIT this month.

The event was almost back to normal this year, being in-person for NJIT students — complete with midnight snacks and impromptu 1:00 a.m. karaoke — and online for external entrants, unlike last year's hackathon which was fully virtual because of the COVID pandemic.

Hackathon organizers encouraged participants to develop projects with an animal theme. Most participants obliged, including overall winner Andrew Gyakobo, an NJIT freshman from St. Petersburg, Russia, whose application Cross-Hairs produces animation physics for 2-D computer graphics.

Cross 'hares' may have been a better name for his game theme of a rabbit hunting for carrots, but Gyakobo said he always wanted to design such a project and was busy racing the hackathon's 24-hour deadline. "Whilst you are helping the rabbit look for the carrot you are simultaneously getting in contact with all of the objects. That's where this physics engine comes into play, shows itself in full glory," as each pixel has its own coordinates, he explained.

It was the electrical and computer engineering student's first hackathon. He attributed winning to beginner's luck, but the judges observed that his project was fully functional, entirely built from scratch and even had custom textures. "I think we were all thoroughly impressed. This project would have been extremely difficult even without the 24-hour timeframe. I think Andrew has a bright future ahead," noted judge Marisa Sigas, a HackNJIT veteran who graduated in May with a B.S. in computer science. Sigas was a member of Albert Dorman Honors College, is now a developer at Prudential and, even more impressively, already serves as an adjunct instructor for entry-level programming courses in NJIT's Ying Wu College of Computing.

Gyakobo complimented the tough competition and said he has more ideas for the next hackathon, such as adding a magnetism element. He took home a $1,500 cash prize and said he will put it toward his savings for a car.

Felix Luciano-Saloman and a teammate from Rochester Institute of Technology won the prize for best animal theme. The senior computer science major, from North Bergen, said his team made an application called Petting Zoo. The software assigns players an animal based on their preferences. Players are in charge of caring for the creature, which is matched with an actual pet that's available for adoption via the Petfinder.org website, including contact information.

The top freshman hack, not counting Gyakobo's overall victory, went to an application called Wildlife Hotline. Team member Eli Nutt, a computer science major from Montgomery, Alabama, said that he and his friends were aware of an Instagram account from Montclair State University that tracks deer on the suburban campus. That was the inspiration for Nutt's team to make a general wildlife-reporting tool. Nutt joked that all he's seen in Newark is a stray cat, but added that the software could be useful for tracking spotted lanternflies. He took home video game development hardware as a prize.

Several other students won in various special categories.

HackNJIT co-organizer Sreya Das, a senior computer science major and Albert Dorman Honors College student from Morganville, said she hopes the event can return to full in-person attendance next year. Generally, in-person events involve more hardware hacking. This year's event projects were almost entirely software.

Event sponsors included Ford Motor Company Fund, Bank of America, Microsoft, Accenture and Lutron. Ying Wu College of Computing Director of External Relations Dina Anello helped with overall management and logistical support.