HackUMBC 2025: "StudyCompass" Takes Top Prize in DoIT’s Data Science Challenge

24 hours, 1,000+ students, one Nintendo Switch 2 prize

Over a thousand students gathered at the UMBC campus and virtually for the 11th annual hackUMBC. It was a fun, snack-fueled 24-hour competition where teams built innovative apps and tools to solve problems important to them.

The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) sponsored a special challenge track called the Data Science Track: Best Student Insight Hack. Most innovative solution using a knowledge graph of simulated academic student data. The track boasted a much-desired prize: a brand-new Nintendo Switch 2 bundled with Mario Kart World!

Out of 18 projects, the big winner of the DoIT Data Science track was Ruben Finkel for his project called "StudyCompass." Ruben is a senior at Pikesville High School and is currently applying to computer science BS programs. This was his first hackathon experience, and he was excited to see the whole room full of coders in Engineering Lecture Hall 1. He described the 24-hour hackathon as grueling, intense, and energized by many Red Bulls. Throughout the first hour, he kept coming back to the idea that he wanted to design something that would help students like himself. Then he began building his project off this idea, which developed into his creation of an AI Guidance Counselor.

HackUMBC organizer and DoIT representatives award the Nintendo Switch 2 prize to their Data Science Track to Ruben Finkel on stage.

Left to right: Isabella Golster, Logan Montgomery, Ruben Finkel, Jason Paluck, and Todd Haddaway.

StudyCompass: Like Having a Personally Trained Guidance Counselor on Your Laptop

What exactly is StudyCompass? Think of it as a digital guidance counselor. It's a web tool that helps you plan your classes and fix your study habits so you can do your absolute best in school.

Ruben was inspired because he felt like many students in large schools don't get enough one-on-one time with their guidance counselors. He wanted to build the perfect tool he wished he had.

Portal to "StudyCompass" with a winner's sash across the corner

What StudyCompass does:

Checks Your Studying: It looks at how you study and gives you advice on how to study smarter, not just harder.
Tracks Your Grades: It helps you keep an eye on how you're doing in your courses.
Plans Your Future: It can make a personalized road map of the classes you should take, even telling you which classes are harder or more important for your major.

Study Compass Short Demo Video

Ruben used simulated university data provided by DoIT to make StudyCompass smart enough to help students with their real-world problems.

Shoutout to the DoIT Team

The hackUMBC event wouldn't have been possible without the people in DoIT who set up the challenge!

A group of people, including Jason Paluck, Todd Haddaway, Logan Montgomery, and Erica D'Eramo, worked hard to create the Data Science track. Jason came up with the highly detailed challenge, giving everyone data and great ideas. Todd was the superhero who stayed up until 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning to answer questions and help the students as they worked! Logan, who had been to hackUMBC before, gave the team tips on what the student hackers would need. Stacy Cahill, the Chief Information Security Officer, stopped by to cheer on the students!

Great job, hackUMBC organizers!

The DoIT team is thankful for the impressive coordination and leadership of all of the hackUMBC leaders and volunteers. A special shout-out to Isabella Goltser, the president of hackUMBC and a computer science major, and Jay Gepilano, the Design Team Lead and a computer science major and double minor in bioinformatics and Gender & Women's Studies. Their assistance in making our track happen during the hackathon is greatly appreciated!

Check out more about how HackUMBC goes virtual in a big way, attracting over 1,000 students!