CruzHacks 2025 Winners

In its 11th year, CruzHacks 2025 brought together hundreds of students to ideate and build technologies for social good, tackling real-world challenges across sustainability, healthcare, education, and accessibility. This year marked a major milestone as the event moved to the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium—an exciting but logistically complex venue. Despite encountering a device-handicapped WiFi system during setup, the student-led team met every obstacle with creativity and resilience. Their determination kept the energy high and the projects flowing.

Shoutout!

A huge shoutout goes to the incredible UCSC student leadership who made it all happen:

  • Executive Director: Neha Ashwin

  • Deputy Director: Alexander Aghili

  • Deputy Director: Nikhil Binu

  • Engineering Director: Sophie Han

  • Operations Director: Ruthwika Gajjala

  • Marketing & Communications Director: Maddison Lobo

  • Treasurer: Andrew Vavrunek

  • Participant Lead: Rohit Mamidipaka

  • Sponsorship Lead: Aidan Gu

  • Mentorship Lead: Mira Prabhakar

  • Volunteer Lead: Rachit Verma

  • Judging Lead: Heli Kadakia

And last but not least, the Civic Center team of Jason Reiter, Shannon Toombs (and her dogs), Dominic Gullo, Carlin with City of Santa Cruz IT, Noel and Xavier with Cruzio. Their tireless efforts made CruzHacks 2025 a success and reminded us that innovation thrives in the face of challenge.

According to Emily with Major League Hacking (MLH), CruzHacks 2025 set a new national record for most number of projects per number of attendees at a US hackathon.

Winning Projects

Below are the standout winning projects from this year’s hackathon:

  • The Botanical Bots: A smart plant care system that monitors moisture, pH, and temperature and waters your plants accordingly. Users choose their plant via a web app, making gardening tech-savvy and stress-free.

  • One Earth: A storytelling platform that gives a voice to people around the globe advocating for environmental change. Designed to elevate marginalized perspectives and unite users in climate action.

  • Curato: An AI-powered EHR automation tool that reduces physician time spent on documentation, allowing for more meaningful patient care and reducing burnout.

  • SatChat: A satellite-chat-enabled AI access tool that ensures global connectivity, making generative AI accessible even in remote areas with minimal infrastructure.

  • VoteSmart: A misinformation-free platform that provides users with a personalized feed of political policies. Built using FastAPI and MongoDB to increase transparency and civic engagement.

  • Review Raven: Aggregates small business reviews from multiple platforms and uses sentiment analysis to provide meaningful customer feedback and identify fake reviews.

  • High-Note: Lets students compare class notes and get AI-driven quality assessments. This promotes knowledge sharing and helps students identify the most helpful material.

  • StimStudy: Generates personalized educational TikTok-style videos using animated characters and celebrities to make studying engaging and fun, especially for younger learners.

  • BenefitFinder: Helps users discover federal, state, and local benefits they may be unaware of, using a friendly interface to democratize access to support systems.

  • ShopShadow: A smart shopping cart that follows the user, scans items using a built-in camera, and enables app-based checkout—eliminating lines and creating a futuristic shopping experience.

  • NoteBird: A study assistant that organizes class notes, auto-generates quizzes, and summarizes complex readings to make studying more efficient and enjoyable.

  • PillPass: A 3D-printed, caregiver-controlled pill dispenser that safely organizes and dispenses medications for seniors or individuals with dementia.

  • CruzConnect: A social platform for UCSC students to post anything—academic tips, meetups, memes—fostering greater connection and community on campus.

  • ElevatR: Offers AI-driven career suggestions and skill-building pathways tailored to user interests and job market trends, aiming to close the skills gap.

  • SlugMeditate: Translates calm thoughts into immersive VR experiences to help users achieve deeper meditation and mindfulness.

  • StudyHubby: A virtual study companion that schedules tasks, motivates you, and keeps your academic life on track—your ultimate academic soulmate.

  • EchoJournal: Uses the Gemini LLM to analyze users’ journal entries and provide emotional insights, turning journaling into a therapeutic experience.

  • EcoSight: Helps users verify the eco-friendliness of products by scanning or asking about them, with suggestions for greener alternatives.

  • Minesweep: Maps out safer driving routes by identifying and avoiding high-risk zones using real-time data.

  • EchoRoute: An AI-powered navigation system for visually impaired individuals that provides obstacle detection, voice navigation, and 3D spatial visualization.

  • Mirror: An AI companion that offers affirmations, health reminders, and motivation—designed to know you better than your mirror.

These winners reflect the spirit of CruzHacks: combining empathy with engineering to shape a better future.

Doug Ericksoncruzhacks 2025Comment