3/20/2025 Rudy San Miguel 4 min read
The 12th annual HackIllinois took place from February 28 to March 2 at Siebel School of Computing and Data Science. The event received 1294 applications from college students around the world. Run entirely by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students, the hackathon gave 568 programmers in 105 teams a chance to test their abilities by creating projects prompted by corporate sponsors John Deere, warp, AGCO and Solana.
Written by Rudy San Miguel
An app that allows users to take a picture of a receipt, select items on a large-party bill, and instantly pay their portion.
A gesture-controlled robot that interprets and executes hand signals on loud construction sites to improve efficiency and protect human life.
A vehicle that uses ultrasonic sensors to map out the terrain and determine the closeness of objects to avoid danger.
These and 102 other fresh ideas came to fruition over three days by participants of the 12th annual HackIllinois on February 28-March 2, 2025, at The Grainger College of Engineering Siebel School of Computing and Data Science. Run entirely by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students, the annual hackathon gave participants of all coding skill levels a chance to test their abilities by creating projects that, according to the organizers’ website, “solved problems or identified new opportunities.” The event received 1294 applications from college students around the world. As the hackathon got underway, 568 eager programmers signed in, creating 105 unique teams.
This year’s theme was HackOlympus. Teams began by selecting their path. Because inclusivity was vital to the organizers’ mission, beginner and intermediate programmers had a chance to participate and win prizes by selecting the “general” path. More seasoned coders who possessed a mastery of programming fundamentals were able to enter the arena as “HackOlympians,” which required an application and coding challenge that, when approved, granted access to harder coding tasks. And to the victor, came the spoils: HackOlympians had exclusive access to larger cash prizes. They also had a chance to present their projects in a showcase fashioned after the television series “Shark Tank.”
With paths chosen, teams selected a single track to determine their challenge, which included “Autonomous Vehicles,” sponsored by John Deere; “Best Developer Tool,” sponsored by warp, “AI-Powered Agriculture Ops Planning,” sponsored by AGCO, and “Most Innovative Use of Solana,” sponsored by Solana. Each company determined criteria and provided judges as well as their own prizes. Teams also had a shot at jackpots supplied by HackIllinois: $2,000 for HackOlympian paths and $1,750 for general paths.
In addition to ensuring accessibility to all skill levels, the organizers wanted to ensure that selected participants reflected the field of computer science and the student population at Illinois.
Co-director Nancy Zhang, a junior in CS+Advertising, stated that while it was important that applicants showed enthusiasm and put work into their responses, the organizers kept an eye out for those who may not have as much of a voice in computer science.
“We considered people who talked about being underrepresented a lot or felt overshadowed in the field,” she said.
Co-director Aydan Pirani, 4th year senior in the MS program, said this year’s focus was on attendee experience and corporate connections. “A lot of our events were tech talks or similar events,” Pirani said.
Both Zhang and Pirani agreed that, though successful, it was a lot of work.
“I’ve never been under so much stress for such a short amount of time,” Zhang said of pulling off the large-scale event over the weekend. “We kept the Hack energy going. I’m proud of everyone for that.”'
Pirani said that in the last two years, the event has been fully in-person after the pandemic, and he and Zhang had big shoes to fill.
“HackIllinois really feels like a magical weekend for both staff and attendees; staff get to see the result of countless hours put in, and attendees get to meet other attendees and enjoy the weekend,” Pirani said.
When asked to select a favorite project, Zhang said there were so many impressive projects that it was almost impossible to choose a favorite. She did, however, have one that would come in handy in her student life.
“EasySplit,” Zhang said of the bill-splitting tool. “I would use that on campus every day.”
Pirani enjoyed seeing what came out of the minds of those on the “Autonomous Vehicles” track. “It’s always very cool to see teams build their own self-driving robot cars over the span of 36 hours!”
To see some of the projects, check out HackIllinois’ post-event wrap-up.