How can we use technology to make the world a better place? Eight teams of undergraduate students at the University of Notre Dame examined that question as part of the Hesburgh Libraries 9th annual Hackathon held April 4-6.

The weekend-long event challenged students to develop technology-based solutions to everyday problems related to this year’s theme, "We Rise Together: Coding for a Better Collective Future." The event kicked off Friday evening, and teams presented their project ideas Sunday afternoon.

A panel of judges evaluated final project submissions in five key areas: innovation, impact, usability, technical merit and presentation. Prizes were awarded to teams who excelled in the criteria on the judging rubric.

Congratulations to the 2025 Hesburgh Libraries Hackathon winners.

1st Place - $3,000
MindEcho

Leyang Li, College of Engineering, Computer Science
Louis Cao, College of Engineering, Computer Science

In a world where communication is key, in-person collaboration in a meeting or group setting may present barriers for hard-of-hearing or non-speaking individuals. MindEcho’s tool reimagines meeting accessibility by generating live captions of a meeting, storing them and using the transcripts to create mind maps of the transcription. The mind maps aid in communication by giving the user a structured overview of what is being discussed in addition to the real-time transcript. In addition, the program aids in idea expression assistance by allowing users to input keywords, which the program will then use to generate a response; if the user agrees with the response they have the option for the program to read it aloud.

2nd place - $2,000
ND Hive

Derick Shi, College of Engineering, Computer Science
Ethan Little, College of Engineering, Computer Science
Aaron Wang, College of Engineering, Computer Science

Students connecting with each other is a great way to learn about campus, but it can be hard for new students to find a peer to connect with who has the time, knowledge and capacity to answer their questions. ND Hive created a tool to bridge that gap. The online website connects mentors and mentees inside the Notre Dame community. After the students connect in real life, the mentees are sent a survey by the program. ND Hive rewards mentors with “honey points,” which can be redeemed in an online store for merchandise.  
 

3rd Place - $1,000
TrueView

Andrew Vittiglio, College of Arts and Letters, Economics and Computer Science
​​John Polking, College of Arts and Letters, Economics

Online mapping is an excellent tool for navigating around a city, but after a natural disaster takes place, roads can change. For first responders, in particular, it is important to know what roads are accessible in real time. TrueView is a real-time street view platform that scours images from the internet, social media and citizen uploads to update maps as they change. The platform ingests geotagged images and aligns them precisely over an existing street-view panorama, updating the maps in real-time so that first responders or families seeking assistance after a natural disaster know which roads are clear.
 

Honorable Mention - $500
CS for Good Award - $250
Fund-A-Box

Edward Hawkson, College of Engineering, Computer Science
Biruk Molla, College of Engineering, Computer Science
Chidera Onyia, College of Arts and Letters, Computer Science

Food insecurity is a growing concern locally and across the world. With a tagline, “Grow Gardens, Build Communities,” Fund-A-Box is a web application created to help grow gardens locally and promote sustainability through donations, educational guides and social tools. The primary features of the application include donation campaigns to help fund equipment necessary for users to start their gardens, partnerships with local organizations, social tools for advice and interactions, educational tools for successful growing tips, and a map featuring local gardening tool libraries and food banks.

2024 Hackathon Judges

A special thank you to our judges.

Matthew Belcher, Software Engineer, AETL, Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society
Alexi Orchard, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Idzik Computing and Digital Technologies Minor 
Summer Mengarelli, Data Services Librarian, Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, Hesburgh Libraries 
Steven Conaway, Notre Dame Senior, President of CS4 Good
Jay Brockman, Director, Civic Innovation Lab, Professor of the Practice, Computer Science and Engineering 
Victoria Woodard, Associate Teaching Professor, Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics