From Problem to Prototype: Students Build AI-Powered Solutions at the Skandalaris Fall Hackathon

Over one weekend, WashU students transformed real-world problems into working solutions during the Skandalaris Fall Hackathon, held August 28–30 at the Skandalaris Center.

Twenty-five teams entered the competition, which challenged participants to:

Identify a real-world challenge and develop an innovative, viable solution. Use AI strategically to help you understand, develop, test, or build your solution.

Rather than making AI the solution itself, teams were encouraged to use it as a tool throughout the entrepreneurial process—from understanding their problem and testing assumptions to developing and building their ideas. The Hackathon began Friday evening with the prompt reveal and team formation before moving into a full weekend of building.

A Weekend of Building

Teams had until Sunday morning to turn their ideas into something tangible. To complete the Hackathon, participants were asked to submit both a two-minute IdeaBounce®-style video pitch and a working minimum viable product (MVP) or prototype.

Of the 25 teams that entered, 23 completed the final video submission—a 92% completion rate.

The weekend emphasized learning through building. Teams didn’t need to create a polished final product. Instead, the goal was to demonstrate that the core of their idea could work and to explain the decisions they made along the way.

From those submissions, five teams were selected to advance to Sunday’s live finals: Passenger Princess, Squad, F.R.E.S.H. Friend, Dap and Pentimento. Each finalist had five minutes to present their work and demonstrate what they had built.

And the Winners Are…

Following the live presentations, three teams took home top honors and a combined $1,500 in prize money.

First Place: Pentimento — $750

Ivan Vashchenko, Team Captain; Paris Patterson; and Volodymyr Hrimov

Pentimento turns a short phone walkthrough into a timestamped 3D property record for damage disputes, giving users a documented record of a property’s condition that can be referenced when disputes arise.

Second Place: Dap — $500

Sanjay Adireddi (Arts & Sciences ’30), Team Lead; Kyle Kim (Olin ’30); Alex Du (McKelvey Engineering ’30); Jeongwon (Blaire) Kim (Olin, exchange student); and Taylor Yun (Arts & Sciences ’30)

Dap is a social onboarding platform designed for college campuses that uses selfies—or “daps”—to turn introductions into lasting connections.

Third Place: Squad — $250

Prisca Baganda (Olin ’27), Team Captain; Mithilesh Kumar (Olin ’28); Gabriela Hakeman (McKelvey Engineering ’27); and Stella Goss (Arts & Sciences ’30)

Squad enables students to split the costs of college life and find community while doing so, bringing affordability and connection together in one solution.

More Than a Competition

The Skandalaris Fall Hackathon was designed to give students an opportunity to move quickly from identifying a problem to testing a real solution. Teams had to make decisions, narrow their ideas, build something that worked and communicate why their approach mattered—all within a single weekend.

The judging reflected that process. Finalists were evaluated on their understanding of the problem, strength of their solution, working MVP, strategic use of AI, and their delivery and next steps.

Most importantly, the weekend gave participants a chance to build, experiment and learn by doing. With 23 completed submissions and five teams advancing to live finalist pitches, the Hackathon demonstrated just how much can happen when students are given a challenge, a deadline and the space to create.

About Skandalaris

The Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis empowers students, faculty, researchers and alumni to explore innovation, launch ventures and create meaningful impact. Through experiential learning, startup programs, mentorship, funding opportunities and a vibrant network of entrepreneurs and industry leaders, the Skandalaris Center helps transform ideas into action and prepares the next generation of innovators to solve complex challenges and build thriving ventures.