The AUK Hackathon Launch - Portfolio Case Study

The Spark

The First AUK Hackathon was a student-led, campus-based hackathon built to turn community energy into real product output, with structured mentorship and a formal judging process.

The mission: create a repeatable hackathon format at AUK that connects students across programs with industry experts and pushes teams to build practical, real-world solutions focused on autonomy and resilience.

The format: a 1.5-day hackathon (full Saturday + half Sunday) hosted at AUK Campus.

Who showed up

  • 14 students from BBA, BGM, MSE, and MGM
  • 2 lecturers
  • 4 mentors from the IT sector
  • 3 jury members representing KMBA and the Ministry of Infrastructure

What got built

  • SkyTech - "Ucar" (Winner): real-time car condition tracking, predictive breakdown alerts, service scheduling
  • Volonterskyi Kovcheg - "3berries" (People's Choice): platform mapping demand for help and matching helpers in Ukraine
  • Dream team four - "Intern.Platform": connects students and companies with smoother skills verification
  • Kobzar AI: turns a messenger into a task concierge (to-dos, reminders, notifications)

My Leadership Role

I co-led the organizing team and acted as an execution owner, aligning students, mentors, and partners to ship AUK's first hackathon as a credible, professional event (not "just a student activity").

From concept to campus

  • Owned the end-to-end execution plan for a brand-new format with no internal playbook
  • Designed the weekend flow (kickoff, ideation, mentoring, pitch prep, judging) to keep teams moving and supported
  • Coordinated Student Council organizers around roles, timelines, and deliverables to keep delivery predictable under time constraints
  • Set the quality bar for participant experience: clarity of communication, pace, and consistent event rhythm

Trust-building with mentors, jury, and partners

Hackathons are only as strong as the people supporting them. I focused on building trust-based relationships so external stakeholders felt their involvement was meaningful and well-run.

  • Aligned expectations with mentors and jury members to enable a transparent and fair evaluation process
  • Structured mentoring touchpoints to maximize impact: feasibility feedback, product framing, and pitch clarity
  • Collaborated with partners, especially Sigma Software Group, whose mentors and prizes increased credibility and participant motivation

What We Were Up Against

Challenge: no hackathon infrastructure at the university (templates, routines, judging format, stakeholder expectations).
Our approach: treated it like a product MVP by defining success criteria, reducing ambiguity, and building a process that can be repeated.

Challenge: attracting external professionals to a student-run initiative.
Our approach: made participation easy and valuable with clear roles, a predictable schedule, respect for time, and a smooth event flow.

The Results That Matter

  • Delivered the first hackathon in AUK history (student-led, campus-hosted)
  • Activated a cross-program cohort: 14 students across 4 programs
  • Integrated professional support: 4 IT mentors + 3 jury members with institutional representation
  • Produced 4 pitch-ready projects aligned to a clear theme
  • Established a repeatable foundation for future hackathons through a clear operating model and stakeholder trust

Lessons That Stuck

  • Operations create credibility. In volunteer-driven work, structure turns motivation into delivery.
  • Stakeholders are part of the product. Mentors and judges return when their experience is respectful and well-designed.
  • The first event defines the standard. A strong launch builds momentum that compounds.