SCI Hackathon 2026: What We Built Together

Hands, minds, and sparks of innovation on the Space Coast.

Author

Groundswell Startups
April 13, 2026

SCI Hackathon 2026 by Groundswell Startups, co-powered by Databricks and BoxMica, came together the way all meaningful things do, through people showing up.

This past weekend, we saw ideas take form, teams take shape, and conversations turn into something more tangible. And for that, we’re incredibly grateful.

Laptops open. Whiteboards filled. Slack buzzing at all hours.

The Build

To everyone who participated, thank you!

Whether you came in with a team or found one along the way, whether you built from a sponsored challenge or your own idea, you showed up ready to explore, experiment, and create.

Across Health, Space, and Defense Tech, we saw thoughtful approaches, working prototypes, and teams pushing through uncertainty to make something real.

The Numbers

Student participants from FIT, EFSC, UF, UCF and USF.

24 real-world Problem Statements and Data Challenges

18 teams formed (with 13 finalists completing prototypes)

25+ Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) engaged throughout the Hackathon

The Winners

Hackers Track Winner:
🥇 DATA ANALYZERS
(Software)

Problem Statement: A New Law. 308K Mandatory ECGs. No pipeline to handle them.

Data Analyzers Team Members (From left to right: Justin Rice, Benji Magnelli, Shawn Steakley, Elis Karcini, and Jim Snyder)

Hackers Track Runner Up:
🥈 DRIFT ZERO
(Software)

Problem Statement: When a satellite closes in on yours, you can't tell if it's passing by or moving with purpose ...until it's too late.

Drift Zero Team Members (From left to right: Madhurishitha Boddu, Esha Gokulram, Nikhil Sangamkar, Kushagra Katiyar, Taher Akolawala, and Abhay Dronavalli)

Aegis Team Members (From left to right: Deep Akbari, Nicolas Diaz, Evin Bento, Sean Lange, and Ethan Zylman )

Tinkerers Track Winner:
🥇 AEGIS
(Software + Hardware)

Problem Statement: Radiation is silently corrupting spacecraft computers. Cosmic rays and solar flares flip binary bits in memory, turning 1s into 0s. Every spacecraft fights this constantly.

Orion Team Members (From left to right: Ryan Huttsell, David Nieves-Acaron, Nathan Perez Matos, Jean Garin, and Dominic Catania)

Tinkerers Track Runner Up:
🥈 ORION
(Software + Hardware)

Problem Statement: Understanding plankton behavior, distribution, and health is essential for monitoring ocean ecosystems, yet collecting high‑resolution, long-term data on these microscopic organisms remains extremely difficult. 

💻 Side Quest 
Participants took on a spy-style Capture the Flag challenge, navigating digital breadcrumbs and uncovering hidden secrets across the network, designed by Groundswell Startups’ IT Director, Chris Muse.

Thank you, Cypress Bank & Trust team, for facilitating and supporting our CTF Challenge winners!

The Guidance

To our mentors and subject matter experts, thank you for your guidance.

Your willingness to answer questions, challenge assumptions, and support teams in real time made a tangible difference in what participants were able to build.

Ian Annase, Zing Drone Solutions
Michelle Tishler, BoxMica
Ryan Bailey, Myelai
Thomas Nguyen, Beenex AI
Daniel Pierron, WidermanMalek PL
Christine Bralich, Catania Products
Lindsay Evans, Rossby Financial
Matt Grimison, Spring Tide Strategies
Sebastien Leduc, Appcom
Evgeniya Simmons, Vertex Form 3d
Ruchir Gupta, Groundswell Startups
Peter Robbins, Concept Lab
Samantha Lee, Artemis

To our judges, thank you for your time, thoughtfulness, and care in evaluating each team’s work.

Matthew Solar, C2C Development
Tyler Isaacs, NASA
Dennis R. Pape, Phase Shift Ventures
Derek Tishler, BoxMica
Sailesh Kadam, Databricks
Amrit Singh, Databricks
Stephen Sopko, HyperFRAME Research
Shama Jayaramaiah, BoxMica
Kimberly Rose, Lockheed Martin

Databricks Solutions Architects brought their expertise and a ton of fun energy.

Hackers Track Judges
(From left to right: Amrit Singh, Shama Jayaramaiah, Kimberly Rose, and Stephen Sopko)

Tinkerers Track Judges
(From left to right: Tyler Isaacs, Dennis Pape, Derek Tishler, and Matthew Solar)

Powered by People

To our partners, co-hosts, team, and volunteers, thank you for making this all work.

From logistics to coordination to last-minute problem-solving, your efforts created the space for everything else to happen.

Track sponsors BoxMica, led by sibling duo Derek Tishler (Left) and Michelle Tishler.

Guiding the weekend’s energy, hosts Sailesh Kadam (Left) and Ruchir Gupta.

The Challenges and Support

To our program, data, and hospitality sponsors, thank you for bringing real problems into the room.

By sharing problem statements and datasets, you gave teams a meaningful starting point and a glimpse into real-world applications across industries.

You helped ground the weekend in purpose.

For some teams, this is just the beginning. Ideas will evolve. Projects will continue. Conversations will carry forward. And for many of you, this won’t be the last time you build together. We can’t wait to see what comes next.

Thank you for being part of this year’s hackathon, for leaning in, building, and figuring things out with us. This weekend was shaped by your curiosity, collaboration, and creativity. Until the next build.

You can view the highlights and gallery here 👉 spacecoastinitiative.com
Images by Joshua Conti 📸