BISV Hackathon 2025

About BISV Hacks

BISV Hacks is an inclusive, student-led hackathon organized by the Programming for Data Science & Machine Learning Club at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley. This year, BISV Hacks will take place in person on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, located at 1290 Parkmoor Ave, San Jose, CA 95126. The hackathon will run from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, hosting over many participants from many different areas. BISV Hacks is an inclusive, student-led hackathon organized by the Programming for Data Science & Machine Learning Club at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley. This year, BISV Hacks will take place in person on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, located at 1290 Parkmoor Ave, San Jose, CA 95126. The hackathon will run from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, hosting over many participants from many different areas.

Our event is designed to encourage creativity and collaboration by bringing together students of all experience levels. Participants will either form teams or work solo to develop innovative projects, solve real-world challenges, and gain valuable experience to fix these issues. In addition to coding, attendees will have the opportunity to hear and gain advice from inspiring speakers, who are industry professionals, and engage in hands-on workshops. Our event is designed to encourage creativity and collaboration by bringing together students of all experience levels. Participants will either form teams or work solo to develop innovative projects, solve real-world challenges, and gain valuable experience to fix these issues. In addition to coding, attendees will have the opportunity to hear and gain advice from inspiring speakers, who are industry professionals, and engage in hands-on workshops.

A highlight of BISV Hacks is our focus on inclusivity and accessibility. Whether you're a seasoned programmer or completely new to coding, we welcome you to join us. We also provide lunch, snacks, and refreshments to fuel your creativity throughout the day. A highlight of BISV Hacks is our focus on inclusivity and accessibility. Whether you're a seasoned programmer or completely new to coding, we welcome you to join us. We also provide lunch, snacks, and refreshments to fuel your creativity throughout the day.

Schedule

March 1, 2025

8:00 a.m.

Hackathon Starts

Registration & Sign-in

12:00 p.m.

Lunch Break

Speeches by Guest Speakers

12:30 p.m.

Lunch Break Ends

Hackathon Resumes

5:00 p.m.

Hackathon Ends

Submission Deadline on DevPost

The Judges

Chagari Vamsi Reddy

AI/ML Lead at Suki

Chagari Vamsi Reddy is an AI/ML lead with over ten years of experience in software engineering and machine learning. Currently leading speech technologies at Suki, a digital assistant platform for healthcare, Vamsi specializes in custom Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) models and microservices. His expertise spans Distributed Systems, Cloud Computing, GenAI, Speech Recognition, Signal Processing, and Embedded Systems. Vamsi holds a Master's in Computer Engineering from Arizona State University and patents in speech command translation and interface interactions. He is passionate about solving complex engineering problems, staying at the forefront of technological advancements, and fostering collaboration in machine learning and software engineering.

Akash Sahoo

Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Samsung

Akash Sahoo has a decade of industry expertise in AI, Speech, Computer Vision, and Robotics. He has co-founded three startups and is currently focused on developing large-scale Speech-to-Text models and advancing reasoning capabilities in Large Language Models at Samsung Research America. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and participating in hackathons on weekends.

Nicolas Bievre

Machine Learning Engineer at Meta

Nicolas Bievre is a Machine Learning Engineer at Meta with over seven years of industry and research experience in machine learning, recommender systems, and generative AI, with applications in digital advertising, personalization, and bioinformatics. After graduating from Stanford University and Ecole Centrale Paris where he contributed to the field through peer-reviewed research published in leading AI and bioinformatics journals, he then joined the industry to enhance his expertise in large-scale ML-based recommender systems at AI-leading companies such as Meta, PayPal, Google, and Amazon.

Karan Kumar Ratra

Senior Software Engineering Manager at Walmart Global Tech

Karan Kumar Ratra is an innovative E-Commerce Systems Architect and Technology Leader specializing in Retail Technology Innovation. With over 15 years of experience in industries like Telecom, FinTech, and E-Commerce, Karan has a proven track record of architecting large-scale systems and fostering innovation. He currently serves as an Engineering Leader at Walmart, where his work drives advancements in fulfillment systems and e-commerce technology. Recognized globally, Karan is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Software Design, Engineering Management, and Systems Design, a Top 1% ADPList Mentor, and an award-winning technology expert with numerous accolades, including Walmart's Impact Award. Beyond his professional achievements, he actively mentors young engineers and contributes as a judge and mentor at prestigious hackathons like HackMIT, CalHacks, and HackPrinceton.

The Team

Charan Sridhar

Chief Organizer

Charan Sridhar is a junior attending BASIS Independent Silicon Valley who is passionate about computer science. Charan's life goal is to use computer science to ensure improved quality of life and equality for everyone, especially marginalized communities. He founded and leads the Data Science and Machine Learning Club at his school and used this club as a platform to start this hackathon, the first at BASIS.

Luke Song

Associate Chief Organizer

An avid coding enthusiast, Luke Song is a junior at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley who loves turning ideas into reality. Having created teaching materials for Charan's Data Science Club, Luke is now helping him organize the first hackathon at BISV. In his free time, you can find him hiking, reading novels, or working on coding and research projects designed to make lives easier for everyone.

Nitai Goswami

Technology Lead & Organizer

Nitai Goswami is a freshman at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley who has been interested in artifical intelligence since 7th grade. He has, over the years, learned about machine learning, neural networks, large language models, more, and he strives to learn more. He is also the technology officer for Charan's Data Science Club and now one of the organizers of this hackathon. Outside of school, he learns more about AI and plays basketball.

Anderson Lu

Marketing Lead & Organizer

Anderson Lu is a freshman at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley who has been actively engaged in computer science for over five years. He works with image processing in the machine learning field and has experience in making websites. In his free time, he plays basketball and strives increase his knowledge in machine learning.

Nicholas Wang

Organizer

Nicholas Wang is a sophomore at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley who has been coding since 6th grade and enjoys exploring technology and building projects. He works with a variety of tools and frameworks, including Svelte, TailwindCSS, Python, and Flask, among others. Nicholas likes experimenting with AI tools, APIs, and creative coding projects. He is also the founder of Stellar, an AI-powered platform aimed at providing free, engaging education. In his free time, he enjoys building websites, learning new technologies, and participating in hackathons.

Redger Xu

Organizer

Redger Xu is a junior at Stratford Preparatory Blackford and the president of the Hackathon club at his school. Here at BISV Hacks, Redger leads the sponorship and financial processes. Outside of school, Redger likes to dive deep into random topics on the Internet and play tennis.

FAQs

What is a hackathon?

A hackathon is an event in which a large number of people meet to engage in collaborative or competitive computer programming. In our case, competitive programming.

Can I submit projects from other hackathons?

As long as it pertains to the theme and prompt, absolutely!

Who can participate? Is coding experience needed?

Any high school student with a passion for technology can participate, even if they have no coding experience!

Do I need a team?

Participants can come solo or with up to 6 teammates.

Will the hackathon be judged in-person or online?

The hackathon will be judged online and not in-person due to time constraints. The results will be sent out by 5:00 p.m. on March 2nd.

Where will the hackathon be held?

The hackathon will be held at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley. The school's adress is 1290 Parkmoor Ave, San Jose, CA 95126.

What do I need to bring?

Just you and your laptop!

Is there going to be food?

Yes, lunch will be held, and there will be snacks served throughout the day.